H
by Jenny5150
Summary: H
1. Real

Real

Prologue

That one day was just like any other day. Normal, or at least, in some ways. But, on that one night... The unexpected would occur.

That one night, all was dark. I was just sleeping in my bed like every night when a loud crash woke me up. I was wondering what it could've been, but then, a loud scream resounded from the room downstairs where my mom and Bryan usually slept. I hurried downstairs only to see Mom staring out the window. On her face was a worried expression. "Who screamed?" I asked, clearly alarmed. My mom didn't answer. She was still staring out the window. When I got up close enough to see what she was staring at, I could only gasp in horror. The house had gone up in flames. The flames seemed to dance elegantly as they scurried to the top of the house. At this, I instantly thought of Sephiroth, and my own creation in my story, Sephidaj. But, it was weird. I remember that when I thought of him I had a instant feeling of pain in my chest. I struggled to breathe as my brain conjured up an image of Sephiroth in a blazing fire. Then, for some reason, I wanted to go find Sephiroth as my brain only thought of one thing: for Sephiroth, for Reunion. Then, after what seemed like hours, my eyes opened. I was being led outside my house. As this happened, I looked around. I could see that all the grass around the front and back yards were black and burnt. And our house... What happened to it? I let go of the hand that was guiding me, as I shouted to them, "What happened to our house?!" The man sighed and shook his head. "You should be asking yourself that question." "What do you mean?!" I asked angrily. "I just did!" "No, I mean..." The man sighed deeply again. "You were in the house... When it was burnt down. We had to come directly inside the house to get you out." I gasped. "Me? In the house?" He nodded. "When we came in, you were muttering something to yourself about the Reunion... And about coming to Sephiroth, that this 'Sephiroth' was calling to you... I dunno what that means. Do you?" I shook my head. "No." "Oh." The man said. "Well, I think someone might've been controlling your mind. Making you think you needed to do things that you don't know anything about." I nodded. "Makes sense." There was a silence. "Wait! You said I was in the house when it was burnt down, right?! Then..." I looked at my arms, legs, hands. Nothing. No injuries at all. Not even death. "How did I not die?" The man shrugged. "We really don't know. The last we heard, this weird ball of light picked you up... And carried you up into the air. Then, when we came back to check on the house again, you somehow still had your memories. You weren't burnt at all, but was a bit unresponsive." He shivered. "Do you... Remember any of that conversation we had in the house, young girl?" I shrugged. "I don't think so. All I remember is seeing the flames dancing near the top of the building." "You don't remember ANY of that conversation we had?" He asked again. I shook my head. "No, I don't. I don't remember it at all." The man put his hand on his chin. "Hm... I wonder..." Just then, his phone rang and he was forced to pick it up. "Hello?" He asked, already walking away. "Wait!" I called out. "What about my parents?!" But no one answered. I thought I was all alone in the darkness of the night, that is, until... A arm tightly grabbed me into a hug. "Oh, Grace! I thought you were done for!" A voice cried out. And that was when I knew... My parents were still here. They had waited here for me. They had waited this whole time. And with that, I hugged my mom tightly, promising to never again let her go... That is, until she said, "Our house was burnt down, sweetie." My eyes filled with tears as I gaped open-mouthed at her. "What?!" "I'm sorry." Bryan said. "But we need to move to another town." I gasped. I don't want to cry, I don't want to cry, I don't want to cry. Tears spilled out of my eyes. I started to cry as I buried my face in my moms chest. "We're sorry, sweetie." Mom said. "But we have to move. For now, we're staying at the Hampton Inn nearby." I kept on crying, as my Mom tried her hardest to comfort me. But I would never be comforted. I would never be calm. I would never happy. That is, until my house - no - our house - somehow miraculously came back.

Deep in the sky, higher up than the clouds, a young man stood in the midst of the Mako. His clothes were torn away. And yet in his deep green eyes shone the power of Mako energy. He knew he needed to become one now. And so, as he calmly closed his glowing eyes, his body slowly changed. He became one with him. One with one of his puppets. And then, as he opened his eyes, the Mako flowing nearby started to flow slowly. Then, all of a sudden, it completely stopped. Someone gasped with horror as the man smirked with delight. His body was now being carried to the real world. He only had to do one thing to get back his original body: get that girl broken. Broken even more than she is now. And he knew just how to do it.

Real

Chapter 1

A Day Filled With Sorrow

The moment I found out that our house was burnt down. The moment that I found out we had to move to a new town. "Why?" Was all I had thought at that moment. "Why do we have to do this? Why was our house burnt down? And why do we have to move?" My thoughts were interrupted by the car pulling into the parking lot. "We're here!" My mom says happily, a tiny smile beaming on her face. "I know, trust me." I muttered sarcastically. "Oh, Grace, you should be happy." Mom says sweetly. "Isn't there free Wifi here?" Yeah, there's Wifi here. Yeah, like that's what I want right now, Mom. I manage to roll my eyes unnoticed as I jumped out of the car. Mom got out right after me, as did Bryan. "Hey, Grace, shouldn't you be happy?" Mom again asked me. I rolled my eyes again. "Sure.." I muttered under my breath. And, with that, we walked toward the hotel room.

"Why?" I asked myself again for the second time that day. "Why do we have to do this? Why was our house burnt down? And why do we have to move?" At our house, Mom did nothing but clean things. I could tell Mom might be getting homesick, because she now cleaned everything she put her eye upon. At our house, Bryan did all the cooking. I could tell that he might be getting homesick, mostly because of the messy dishes that now covered the floor. (We didn't have a trash can in our hotel room!) Mom suddenly interrupted my worried thoughts by saying, "Hey, why don't we go to the pool?" I rolled my eyes. "Sure, whatever." I muttered under my breath. I had (slightly) said yes to the idea of going to the pool. But, little did my mom know, I wouldn't enjoy it one extra little bit, nor would I enjoy the time afterward.

"That was HORRIBLE!" I complained as I threw off my shoes. It really was. It was the worst. I had tried to get the Internet out at the pool, but it didn't work all the way out there! Plus, as I was getting in the pool, this little kid splashed me in my face! And, to top it all off, my toys sank all the way to the bottom of the pool and I couldn't get them. So, as a result, I asked this little girl to get them for me, and she did! But, guess what? She stole them for herself just like a little thief! It was the worst ever! I am currently very mad. Very, very mad. So mad that right when I go back into my room in the inn, I forcefully jump back into the bed and bury myself in the covers. And that was when I felt a sharp pain. "It feels like it's coming from both my shoulder and my face!" I thought to myself, suddenly scared. I rapidly jump up off the bed and look in the mirror... Only to see some mysterious, painful black ooze dripping down my forehead. I instantly gasp, and I wipe the dripping ooze off my face. But then, I felt another pain in my shoulder. I turn to look at it, only to see a big black bruise forming there, right on my shoulder blade. And then, I heard a voice. Not a voice like in real life, but rather a voice inside of your own mind. And it sounded very familiar. "Come..." It said darkly. "Come here to me." I hesitated for a second. "Why are you hesitating? Don't you want to join Reunion?" It asked me. At the word Reunion, a sudden pain shot up my shoulder blade as I gasped, trying my best to breathe in air. After a silence, the voice sighed. "Humph." It said. "So you really won't come with me. You seem to be more powerful than you let on. ... Nevermind that. You'll soon regret this.." The voice seemed to fade out within my mind as the pain dispersed, but the wounds on my shoulder did not. Just then, I remembered Denzel's first symptom of Geostigma: the black ooze. ... The black ooze! I had had black ooze dripping down my forehead! That was when I realized... I had gotten the deadly disease known as Geostigma. Searing pain suddenly shot up my arm. Alarmed, I gasped in pain as it slowly enveloped me. And, with that, I fainted into a world of darkness...

Chapter 2

Run Away

I woke up in a room of white. A doctor was leaning over me, touching my arm. "Tell me, does this hurt?" He gently slapped my bruised arm. "Ow!" I screamed. "Apparently it does." The man said. "Let me take a look here." The doctor looked at my bruised arm closely, inspecting it. Then, all of a sudden, he gasped and threw back his hand as if it had been burned. "GEOSTIGMA!" He screamed loudly. The people turned toward him and screamed. The nurse ran into the room. "Who has Geostigma?" She asked worriedly. The man pointed a finger toward me. "Her!" The nurse suddenly fainted. I gasped and looked around. Everyone was panicking. Even my mom and dad. Was it all because of me? Not knowing what else to do, I ran out of my hospital room, making sure to remember to cover up my bruised arm with my shirt on the way out. "Where's the closest place of relaxation near here?" I asked the hospital attendant. "Hm.. The closest place of relaxation... I would say that's the Croatan. It's just across the nearby walking bridge." "Ok! The Croatan! Thanks!" I started to walk away, but just then, the hospital attendant called out, "Wait... You aren't.. Planning on going out there all by yourself, are you?" I turned and nodded. "Yeah, why?" "Because... There's been rumors." I tilted my head. "Rumors?" "Yes.." The man shivered. "Rumors." There was a silence. "Rumor has it," the man started. "that in the woods of the Croatan, there's been a voice." "A... Voice?" I inquired. "A singing voice." He emphasized. "From which part of the woods?" I questioned. He slapped his forehead. "You really don't know anything about these woods, do you?" "No, no I don't." I admitted, rubbing my forehead nervously. The man sighed. "There are two parts of the woods: one that runs in a straight line, and one that runs through the middle of the woods. Do you think you should take this task?" "Uh, yeah, sure, whatever! Well, gotta go!" The man sighed again when he looked up and saw that I had left. "I wonder if she'll be alright..." He muttered to himself.

I wandered through the woods, growing more and more tired by the minute. I was so tired, I decided to create a poem in my head to drag me along... And so I wouldn't fall asleep. "Wandering, wandering, wandering, through the woods... So, so, tired, I feel like I could die..." But then, I heard another voice. And it was a real one. "Listen to my voice..." It sang. "And watch it resound through this forest..." I froze. Who was this? Just then, I remembered. The singing voice! Right now, I was the only one who wasn't afraid to hear it. I was the only one who would have to face it. And do, without fear, I raced toward the bushes and opened them... Only to see a young girl wearing a battered white dress with her eyes closed. I got up close to her, but then, almost instantly, her glowing green eyes opened. She struck her sword at me, making me step backward in shock. "Who are you?" She demanded with a cold expression on her face. "And why are you here?" "I..." I started. I thought about everyone who had ran away from me. I thought about everyone I had run away from. And I thought about my family. Were they missing me? Or were they perfectly fine without me? I couldn't help it. I started crying. "I.." I said, through tears. "I... I don't know." The girl scowled up at me. "What's that supposed to mean?" I took a shaky breath, and finally said, "I ran away." "Oh.." The girl was now staring at me with what looked an attempt at a sorrowful expression. "Are you a fugitive too?" I almost laughed. "A fugitive?! No! I just ran away from the hospital because of a sudden sickness I have. Because of that sickness, nobody wants to be around me." "Oh." The girl said quietly. Her face slowly turned back into that cold, heartless expression I'd first saw. "So.. You aren't a fugitive?" She asked me. I nodded. "Nope. Not a fugitive." "Well then, if you're not a fugitive, I don't need to be hanging around with you anymore." And with that, she flicked her hair back away from her face and started to walk away from me. "Wait!" I called out. She turned her head slightly toward me without a word. "What's your name?" "Sara." She said slowly. "Don't forget it." And, with that, she was gone. "Gone, huh?" I thought to myself. "Maybe, back at the hospital, they think I've vanished, just like that..." I sighed and leaned my hand on a old-looking tree. "Maybe so." A equally quiet, yet still calm and cold-sounding voice resounded throughout the forest. "But, maybe... Maybe they don't even know you're missing." I straightened up. Who was that? And whose footsteps were those? It sounds like they're heading this way... I got to my feet and started to run, but, just as I did, I felt a hand roughly press on my shoulder. I looked beside me. Standing next to me was a young man with green cat-like eyes that seemed to glow in the dim light of the forest who was wearing a unzipped dark coat with silver gauntlets on the front of it. He snickered, right before doing a wicked smile. And then he said the words, "He will be reborn someday."

Chapter 3

Sephidaj


	2. The advent

The 3rd Advent: Prologue.

Laughter rang about at the Gold Saucer as kids of all ages raced about happily to see which one would get to the rides first.

But, one young women with brunette hair standing with a young child that looked about 5 years old and another young girl with long wavy brown hair by her side was adjusting someone with spiky blonde hair, his eyes closed, onto a slow-moving ride.

It was obvious that he somehow could not apparently walk properly onto the ride.

"Cloud?" Asked the brunette softly.

He didn't move.

"He hasn't opened his eyes since yesterday." The young child remarked sadly, staring at his weak closed eyes.

"Do you think he's, perhaps..." I started.

I stopped.

I couldn't finish my sentence.

If he were dead, we would've noticed by now.

He still somehow had some signs of vibrant life to him.

No.

We wouldn't give up.

"Cloud." I poked him.

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted.

"Cloud.." Marlene said.

Her salty tears of sorrow and melancholy fell on Cloud's face.

As if he could sense our feelings, he started to groan in pain.

But, why?

"Cloud." Tifa said, touching him on the cheek ever so slightly.

"Are you awake?"

His eyes opened just the slightest bit.

"Him... The Nightmare..." He murmured weakly. "He's coming back again."

The Nightmare?

Could he mean...

Sephiroth?

"But, I thought Sephiroth was dead!" I remark into the darkness of the now chillingly slow ride.

"He was." Cloud said, hacking. "But, he's coming back again.."

"How is he alive, anyway?" I ask the shadows and to no one in particular. "I thought he had died done for at that last Advent!"

In Cloud's mind, Cloud could just see him slicing Sephiroth with Omnislash Version 5 and him vanishing into the shadows.

"So had I." Cloud said. "But apparently we were all wrong.."

There was a long silence.

"There... Will be a 3rd Advent." Cloud said weakly. "But I just don't know when."

All of a sudden, he started to groan in pain.

"Cloud!" Tifa hollered, alarmed. "Cloud!"

Cloud was paying no mind to Tifa's alarmed cries.

In Cloud's mind, he was seeing a figure from the past with a large bloody fire around it.

Sors imanis... (Fate - monstrous...)

Et innanis.. (And empty...)

The figure slowly picked up his Masamune and stabbed it.

Back in the real world, as if the vision was a reality, Cloud clutched at his chest, struggling to breathe in air.

He was also seeing a vision during this time too.

He was seeing that same figure stabbing Aries to her death in slow-motion.

Estuans interius...

Cloud groaned in extreme pain and agony as he saw another vision of Sephiroth beckoning to him. "Come with me to the Promised Land... Cloud."

Ira vehementi...

Cloud gasped in horror, screamed, and then he took a short, shaky breath and closed his eyes.

Cloud was gone.

Tifa shook Cloud. "Cloud!"

There was a pause.

"He's gone..."

Marlene started to cry.

Then, the ride grew silent.

"What did he mean by the 3rd Advent?" Asked GG.

Tifa picked up Cloud.

"It doesn't matter. I suspect we'll learn more about this as it happens naturally, anyway. For now, let's go home. We've got to tell them about this matter."

Meanwhile, in the darkened corner, someone started to whisper.

"Yes.. Yes... It is near..."

The 3rd Advent: Chapter 1.

A tall, straight, familiar figure was standing in the bloody red fire.

"Mother..." A spine-chilling voice said to the darkened shadows. "That past event left me without any power. Nothing. Not even a tiny bit of anything. So I can't protect you... But you understand... Don't you, Mother?"

The strangely feminine-looking humanoid figure that looked a lot like a makonoid just stared back at him.

Of course it couldn't respond.

But the figure just continued talking as he caressed "her" face gently.

"...I'm knew you would understand, Mother. Now, can't you help me escape this place? That way we can continue our plan..."

A bright blue light flashed.

And then, they seemed to disappear into thin air...

Meanwhile, at a Pokemon Musical Place/Concert Hall/Special Banquet Hall, the people were gathering at the banquet hall to celebrate their 100 year Musical celebration and to eat the chocolate cake.

All of a sudden, a young girl dressed in a beautiful white dress burst into the banquet hall.

"Oh!" The man that was hosting the banquet seemed genuinely alarmed. "Q-Queen Marisa! She's here!"

Practically a whole audience excitedly darted up to the young women.

Excited young people asked the flustered famous young women everything.

Just then, the front door slammed open.

A young man with silver hair and green cat-like eyes was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, sir! Are you here for the banquet?" Asked a certain little girl: Queen Marisa's daughter. "Come on. I'll show you where to go!"

Without a word, she started to guide him toward the banquet hall.

"Oh yes, I'm here for the banquet..." Thought the dark voice calmly, yet quietly.

The young girl started to drag him toward the door, but then, without a word, the young man picked something out of his large pocket.

His ever-so-familiar large katana: the Masamune.

Without a word, he furiously let go of the girls hand and stabbed her in the chest.

And that was when Queen Marisa came in and saw her currently dead daughter.

She instantly started to cry, but then clenched her teeth in anger, and looked up at the smirking young man.

"What will this accomplish for you here?" Fumed the Banquet Queen Carisa. "I order you OUT!"

The young man started to laugh eerily.

"What are you laughing at?" Demanded the Queen.

He didn't answer.

He just plunged the sword into the body of his victim, smirking madly all the while.

The weakened Queen held onto her knee.

Then, a stunned look formed her face.

"You... You... You can't be.."

And that was when the Queen fell onto the floor dead.

He looked at the Queen closely.

"Still not good enough..." He said, and slowly walked away from the now destroyed banquet hall.

Outside the banquet hall, a small shiny Zoura scurried hurriedly to the Small Court.

But, a certain young man with silver hair and green cat-like eyes stood in its way.

Zoura gasped out of fear.

Then, the Zoura fainted on the floor.

The young man closed his eyes and...

Started to absorb its cells?

All of a sudden, the young man changed.

The young man had become a tiny Zoura.

He giggled mischievously, pleased with himself, as he scurried across the city of Nimbasa to a glorious, ginormous mansion...


	3. Servants purpose

~A Servants Purpose~

Sometimes some purposes are meant to bring others together.

Why? ...Well, why not?

Tick, tick, tick, tick. The low, metallic droning of the clock rang out slowly in the relatively small room. But even that noise did not dispel the voices ringing in and out of my mind, reminding me of my fate, and also, of my owners. You're both going to die. Nor could the noise calm the uneasy qualms that were currently creeping their way slowly up my spine. No, not qualms... definitely not qualms. It had to be truths. It just *had to be*. After all, wasn't a fear something you were supposed to be afraid of? I certainly wasn't afraid of this. It was more like I had knew that this would soon happen. Even many a year ago I had still known. So, then... just why was I so sad about it? I couldn't understand it. A servants goal was "to fulfill anything within his masters wishes and desires", and, also, to "make sure you have done everything in advance to make your master happy right up until his or her death." The main reason for this? Because when she dies, the servant will too. The reason for this is because when the master dies, the servant will have no more reason to live on this earth any longer. I knew all this already... I just couldn't comprehend it all. Why was I sad and afraid? I didn't know why, but I thought I might *not* want to know just yet. Suddenly, out of nowhere, as if to make my fears even worse, a thought flashed through my mind: Maybe it's not death I'm worried about, maybe it's pondering on where I'll go afterward that's my problem. Suddenly, a loud, scream of pain pierces straight through the silent air. I jump up out of the bed that I was sitting in. My adrenaline kicks in as I dash into the room where the scream came from.

As soon as I walk into the room, I see her: the bloody, bruised figure of my owner laying crumpled up in a heap on the ground of the extra room. My owner, my master, my love, is bleeding. She's dying. I can't comprehend why, but for some reason I can't seem to believe it. And yet, it's all true. It's all happening here, right now, right before me. For some reason unknown, I still wish it were a dream. My heart aches as I finger her beautiful hair. Never have I wanted tears more. Suddenly, I feel myself beginning to disappear.


	4. Bad Egg Manaphy

Bad Egg Manaphy

Chapter One

The E G G

I walked into the Pokemart. Before I could even buy anything, a man wearing a delivery uniform rushed up to me. "Are you Ashlynn?" I nodded, confused. I don't think I ordered anything for myself... "Yeah, I am. What do you have for me?" I asked, still puzzled. "I have this egg. It was delivered to you yesterday." The man handed me the egg. It was blue all over, and had a red emblem on the front of it. "We don't know what kind of Pokémon is inside yet." The delivery man told me. "You're just going to have to walk around and wait until it hatches." I nodded. "Ok. Well, guess I will." But as I walked out of the Pokemart, I was still left feeling rather confused. I hadn't asked anyone to deliver me an egg... and who even *could* have delivered me an egg, anyway? Oh well. Guess I'll have to just walk around and hatch it for now. I walked around the store and ran into the day-care man. For some reason, he wasn't working at the day-care today. He looked at what I was holding in my arms and smiled widely. "Oh, my, looks like you've got a Pokemon egg! But that doesn't look like any Pokémon egg I've seen before." I frown. "It doesn't? Do you at least have any idea what might be inside?" The day-care man narrowed his eyes and examined the egg all around. After a while, he stopped and looked at me. "This might be hard to believe, but I think it might be a Manaphy Egg." I frown. "Manaphy? You mean, the Mythical Pokemon, Manaphy?!" I asked, shocked still. The day-care man just nodded, rather shocked as well. "Yes. I've never seen anything like it in my sixty years of life." He muttered. "To think, that you obtained a wondrous Manaphy Egg..." I smile, and dash out of the Pokemart, now far too excited to contain myself. Why? Well, Isn't it obvious? What luck! I had gotten myself a Mythical Pokemon egg! I laughed with glee and spun around, holding the egg up into the sunlight. Then, suddenly, it started to glow. I gasped, nearly dropping the egg out of shock. I caught it before it could hit the ground and I looked it over in sheer awe. There was no doubt about it: it was surely hatching.

~M/A(N-A:P;H)Y"~

I felt myself being put into someone's hands. I heard a muffled conversation, and then the person holding me starting walking around in the PokeMart. Perfect. Another person... And yet, to her I won't appear as an egg, or as a 'glitch'. To her, I will be as a innocent, cute and happy Manaphy who wants nothing but her owner to be happy. I won't be #0000. I will be the beloved #270. Now, don't get me wrong. I do want her to be happy, but they usually all despise me. That's why I came here to this region as a Manaphy and not my real Form, so that way more people could love me for what I am. I just hope she lets me in... The person keeps walking, and I can gradually feel myself start to move inside the egg. There's no denying it: now, it was only a matter of time. The person then stops walking, and there is more muffled conversation. Then, suddenly, after a while, the person starts to take off running. She is happy. But what about? The girl keeps twirling around so much that it makes me dizzy, even from inside the egg. I can feel the warmth of the sun beating on the shell of the egg. Suddenly, I feel my body squirm and it began to change and move. A soft glow that I could now see clearly radiated at the top of the egg. Yes... now, it was time.

Chapter Two

The E G G Hatches

~Ashlynn~

After a while, the light from the egg blinded me a little and I closed my eyes to keep the light from blinding me even more. When I had opened them again, however, I didn't see myself holding the egg: I instead saw myself holding a light-blue Pokemon with feelers for ears and a small body: it was indeed a Manaphy. It looked at me curiously, blinking twice. "Mana?" It asked in a question, tilting its head curiously. I smiled playfully. "Hi." I gently pet the Pokemon with my fingertip. Manaphy smiled happily, now relaxed, and leaned into me in a hug. I smiled. "What a cute Pokemon." Manaphy made a happy squeal of relaxation. I grinned. "Alright. Guess I'll check you out in the Pokédex." I set Manaphy down in the grass, and, while Manaphy proceeded to hop over to me, I proceeded to pull the Pokedex out of my bag. I was about to scan Manaphy, who was currently clumsily hopping over to me, but just as I did, Manaphy leaped into the air gleefully and fell on my chest, smiling with joy and probably begging for more pets in Pokelish. I grinned. "Alright, you asked for it. I'll just scan you later..." I pet Manaphy again, and it cried out happily. I grinned with joy. My new life with Manaphy was going to be just fine, I could already tell.

~M/A(N-A:P;H)Y"~

When I opened my eyes fully and I could see clearly, I saw a girl who was holding me. She stared at me and I stared right back, tilting my head curiously at her. To my surprise, the girl smiles. "Hi." She coos, slowly rubbing the top of my head with her fingertip. It felt so great! I had never gotten petted before. This was absolutely wonderful. I didn't want this moment to ever end. Now relaxed, I leaned toward the Trainers body, tilting my head upward, trying to ask for more pets. But the trainer bent over and set me down on the grass. I was concerned. What was happening? I slowly hopped over to the Trainer, and I saw she was pulling out her Pokédex. The flashbacks invaded my mind. No... I couldn't glitch. She couldn't scan me! No... She couldn't see my number or my entry. She would get scared... The girl had her Pokédex almost ready to scan me now. No... she couldn't press TRY AGAIN. This moment just couldn't end! I leaped into the air just as the Pokedex started to scan me, making the scan unable to work. I finally fell on the girls chest, crying out happily. At this, the girl turned off the Pokédex and started to pet me again. Phew... what a relief. She didn't find out... More pets were given and I cried out happily again. The girl grinned. "You really like being petted, don't you?" My new life with her was going to be very good, I could tell...

Chapter Three

Short ?: M ???? a ??? m a

~Ashlynn~

I picked Manaphy back up and stood up, looking around the city. "Well, I guess I need to get moving eventually." I tell it. "But I need to keep you with me. After all, I'm your mama now." The blue Pokemon looks up at me in confusion. "I know you probably don't understand," I tell it gently, and slowly for emphasis. "But I'm your mama now." "Ma... ma." Manaphy said. I was so startled I jumped back and nearly dropped Manaphy. "Manaphy.. did you just--speak..?!" Manaphy looks up at me, eyes blinking. "Manaphy... can you say 'Mama'?" Manaphy tries it's best: "Ma... ma." I slowly grin. "That's it. Try saying it again." I egg it on gently. "Ma... ma. Mama. Mama, Mama!" Manaphy rejoices upon successfully saying my name. "That's a good Pokemon." I pet Manaphy gently on the head. Just then, my Poketch started ringing and I picked it up, putting Manaphy back on the ground: "Hello?" I asked into the phone. I gasp when I hear the person talking to me over the phone: it's Katherine Haversmith, a friend who I had not seen in a long while, maybe 8 years. "...Really? Right now?! ...Sigh... Well, alright." I hang up the Poketch and look at Manaphy, who was staring up at me in confusion. "My friend is over at the Pokemon Center." I explain. "We're going over there to see her right now. I know she'll be so excited to see me again, and to meet you!" I pick up Manaphy, and start to walk over toward the Pokemon Center. "Well, let's go on ahead!"

Chapter 4

Friend

The second I walked into the Pokemon Center doors and finally came inside, Katherine came rushing up to me almost immediately and threw me into a tackle-hug. "Oh, my gosh. You're finally here! I can't believe it's you, Ashlynn!" I cough loudly, barely able to breathe. "Yeah, I know you're excited, but could you just please get off of me?!" At this, Katherine gasps in shock and gets off of me. "I'm *so* sorry! Did I hurt you..??" I frown. "No. But you almost managed to suffocated me, and my poor Manaphy." "You have a Manaphy now?" Katherine questioned. "What about your other Pokemon?" I frowned. "I'm planning on restarting my adventure with Manaphy: I won't use any others of my old Pokemon... only Manaphy." I grinned, stood up, and took ahold of Manaphy so I could show it to Katherine. The second Katherine saw Manaphy, she screamed and immediately hugged Manaphy in pure joy. "Oh, my gosh! You're such a great Trainer, Ashlynn! To think, that you have a Manaphy!" Manaphy struggled and made noises of protest in Katherine's tight grip. I frowned. "Katherine, you might want to let go of-" Manaphy howled, and, suddenly, a bright white light filled the room. When I could see again, Katherine was just getting up off the floor, and Manaphy was just out of her grip. I somehow knew what had happened just by looking: Katherine must have almost strangled Manaphy in that hug and Manaphy must've gotten overwhelmed and attacked Katherine. But that didn't look a normal attack for a *Manaphy*... Katherine currently was struggling to her feet. She looked weak, and her face was white and pale. Katherine was breathing in and out, sounding almost as if in pain. Had the attack really been *that* strong..?? But I thought Manaphy was just a baby... "WOW! That Manaphy of yours is *super* strong!" Katherine rambled as soon as she had fully stood up. "Only, I don't know exactly what move that was. Maybe it's a new move. Or, wait. Did you just hatch it? Then maybe it's a move it only knows at the start or something." I frown annoyedly at Katherine, waiting for her to stop talking. Before she does, though, her mom races into the room. "Mom, Ashlynn has a Manaphy!" Katherine cries out. The mom raises a brow: "Excuse me?" "I said that Ashlynn has a Manaphy!" Katherine echoed again. "Ashlynn couldn't have obtained a Manaphy. That's simply imposs-" Her eyes fell to the blue baby Pokemon that I was now holding. But, instead of her eyes being filled with excitement, her eyes were now filled with dread. She looked at me, face pale and body perspiring seemingly out of nowhere. She roughly put a hand on my shoulder, and leaned in toward my ear. She slowly and softly whispered the words, almost as if she was afraid: "Ashlynn. Don't you ever hurt Manaphy's feelings. Love Manaphy for as long as you want. Love on it, and love on it, until the end of time." I frown. "I was planning on doing that anyway." The mom laughs nervously. "Good. Well, I gotta go. Come on, Katherine." The mon tugs roughly on Katherine's hand to tell her to come and, soon, they are out of the Pokemon Center. Only one question remained in my mind: exactly what... had just happened?

Chapter 5

B a t t l e t i m e

"Manaphy, you're my Pokemon now." I told Manaphy as we walked around Route 1. "And I know you're just a baby, but you still have to battle." Manaphy whined. "Don't argue." I said gently. Just then, I heard the tap-tap-tap sound of a small Spearow walking in the grass. It came toward a nearby plant and plucked a worm out of it. "Now's your chance," I lowly whispered to Manaphy. I carried Manaphy towards the Spearow and put it on the grassy ground, only a few inches away from it. The Spearow, sensing a presence, turned around and sharply glared at Manaphy. Manaphy was startled. Spearow used Sand Attack while Manaphy was scared and unmoving and it hit Manaphy in the face. Manaphy rapidly got the sand off its face. "Manaphy, Attack!" I cried out to it. Pidgey used Gust. Manaphy struggled against the wind beating it down. "Manaphy, what are you doing? I told you to Attack!" I screamed out over the weak gust Pidgey had created. Manaphy has its eyes closed, struggling against the wind, and now I, too, almost had my eyes closed as well. What I couldn't see was that Manaphy was now down, and nearly fainted against the roots of a rough, tall tree-trunk. Manaphy cried out and teleported (but how?!) away. The Spearow turned around, and finally saw Manaphy. When my eyes finally opened up again rather cautiously, Manaphy unleashed a huge, windy energy towards the Spearow and knocked it out. But what I didn't expect after all that was for Manaphy to tiredly collapse on the grassy ground as well, before we could even celebrate its odd, yet miraculous victory. "MANAPHY!" I immediately ran to its side, and picked it up, cradling it in my arms. With no thoughts at all but for my weak Manaphy, I started running to the Pokemon Center. "Don't worry," I whispered comfortingly to it. "It'll be OK. You'll get better soon." I can only hope I didn't force you too hard...

Chapter 6

S t r a n g e H??? a??p p??e??? n i n g s

I watched through the glass window as the fainted Manaphy was being healed back to normal again. "What do you think happened?" I asked Nurse Joy, turning away from the glass window. She turned around and I walked up to her. A huge computer monitor loomed above us. "I'm not sure, due to your limited amount of information. The only thing I can come up with is that your Manaphy must've gotten injured by the Pidgey in battle." I nod. "Yeah, that's probably true." "Besides that, it says here-" The Nurse pointed to the accessible information on the computer monitor, "that your Manaphy hatched today-it's still just a baby... Why'd you make it battle?" I frowned. "I don't know." Manaphy... "Well, anyway, you can go on home. Manaphy should be just fine by tomorrow." I nod, sniffling, and I walk out of the Pokemon Center, all the while thinking of my Manaphy, and how I had probably pushed it too far. I'll never make it battle again, I silently vowed to myself, never. I'll start using my strong Pokemon while Manaphy grows up and becomes stronger-then, it can fight on its own, and it can finally defend itself. Then, I should just leave and walk away. I don't need the adult Manaphy with me anyway, if all I'm going to eventually do is hurt it... Tears fell down my face. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. Eventually, my walking slowed and I came to a stop at my house. I opened the house door, and walked inside, closing the white door and locking it behind me.

Nurse Joy frowned worriedly, looking through the nearby glass window at the Manaphy, which was strangely still fainted in the hospital room. "This isn't normal. Didn't my Chanseys heal it just an hour ago? It should be awake by now..." "...I didn't ever want to do this, but..." Nurse Joy walked over to the computer monitor, "I guess I have no choice." She started typing and inputting some quick, almost rapid, key movements on the computer. A screen of Manaphy's stats and moves came up on the monitor. On the first screen that showed the stats, it showed all of Manaphy's stats and status conditions. It read, Attack: 29. Special attack: 40. Speed: 10. Special Defense: 0... and, Defense: 0... Nurse Joy frowned seriously. "That's rather... odd..." But the most odd thing Nurse Joy eventually found about this screen was the status condition. Instead of saying that Manaphy was under no such status condition, it said instead that Manaphy was inflicted with a BRN. At this, Nurse Joy nodded to herself in acknowledgment. "Oh, well that might explain some of why it won't wake up." She said in understanding.

Nurse Joy walked into the dark room with a Full Heal, turning the light on and bending down toward the ailing Manaphy. She sprayed a puff of it on the Manaphy. But Manaphy was still ailing, and still whimpering. Another spray of it... but Manaphy was still in pain. Almost as if it wasn't working at all. Almost as if... almost as if Manaphy actually wasn't there at all...

A confused and puzzled Nurse Joy walked back into the computer room and looked at Manaphy's odd status again. This time, it said that Manaphy was SLP. That was odd... and actually rather incorrect. After all, a second ago when Nurse Joy saw it, it had seemed to be conscious, but wasn't exactly there... but it *certainly* wasn't asleep. Nurse Joy was still puzzled. What could this strange oddity possibly mean? Nurse Joy decided to go off of the computer and turn it back on. As she did, the status condition changed again... to FNT. Plus, now it said that Manaphy was holding a Seal: but how would it have gotten one? It was laying in the Pokemon Centers hospital bed, asleep, the whole entire time. And even if it *had been* awake, it still couldn't have gained access to the PC all by *itself* to get a Seal... Then, finally confused and at her wits end scared enough to do so, she looked at the moves of this odd Manaphy: first off, there was the Water-type move Water Sport. Secondly, there was the Water-Type move Bubble. But the similarities ended there, with Manaphy's third slot of a move having a Flying-Type move called Gust and Manaphy's fourth slot of a move being the move Leer. There was a fifth slot too, strangely, but it was absolutely blank, with no useable move at all. Manaphy couldn't ever learn the moves Gust *or* Leer... it wasn't compatible with any Water-type Pokemon, even the Mythical ones. Plus, Manaphy was supposed to have four WATER-TYPE MOVES moves it learned at Lv. 1. That was just a baby Stage, and that's what this Manaphy was, a baby. ..or was it? Plus, what was with that glitchy fifth slot..?? At this point, Nurse Joy was really scared... This Manaphy... what was it? And was it even a *Manaphy*..?? No-even worse, was it even a Pokemon..??

(Why Nurse Joy was able to see this information that usually shows up for the glitched Bad Egg and not for the hatched Pokemon that came out of it was because "Manaphy" was going through an invisible process of glitchy phasing between the Manaphy and its regular Form. This is an automatic, and perfectly normal process that it did to stay in its Manaphy form when it wakes up. The reason why it was fainted in the hospital bed the whole time it was phasing--first off, it was not the phasing making it stay asleep. Due to being a glitch, Manaphy's automatic defense stats are at 0 (as shown in the Nurse Joy scene), and do NOT CHANGE at all even by leveling up. Thus, whenever Manaphy gets knocked out, it is always asleep for hours while regaining its lost strength. Due to Manaphy knowing this would happen, Manaphy starting phasing immediately, right after it fainted in battle, so it could keep its Manaphy Form alive, even while it slept defenseless for hours.)

Chapter 7

V i s i t

~Ashlynn~


	5. Pikachu

Random GSP character-related Quotes

Pikachu-related quotes

Me: "You know, Pikachu. I was thinking."

(Pikachu turns away from me with a big huff, arms crossed annoyedly. However, I am determined to keep on going.)

Me: "Pikachu... Why don't you like me? Because I like you. And I think you should like me."

(Pikachu slowly, exasperatedly opens its eyes to look at me.)

Me: "I mean, come on... Can't you just give me, like, a little shock or something?"

(With that being said, Pikachu zaps me with its Thunderbolt while smirking with glee.)

Me: "That's not exactly what I meant..." (I pass out.)

Me: "Aw, Pika, you're JUST SO CUTE! Nuzzle me, my little one!"

(Pikachu lovingly does so on command, and the electricity slowly goes into my body as I scream in pain.)

Me: "Teaching you Nuzzle was a really bad idea.." (I then collapse.)

(Pikachu is running away from me, and into the cruise ship's hallway. As she does, she stops suddenly, ears pricked.)

(Suddenly, a bright flash of light appears, momentarily blinding Pikachu. When the light clears, a currently exhausted Team Rocket (just Jessie and James at the moment) is standing there, further ahead of Pikachu. But, wait! Where's Meowth, anyway?)

Meowth: (says while panting) I... I'm down here!

Narrator (me): Oh, sorry! (Finally pans the camera on Meowth)

Meowth: (says while panting) W-We came here to...

(Jessie, who has now recovered from her exhaustion, skips over to Pikachu and holds it up high into the air, full of joy and laughing gleefully.)

Jessie: (interrupting Meowth) We came here to love on you. You poor thing, living a life with a no-good, rotten trainer!

James: (whispers to Jessie) Uh, Jessie. I think that's us you're referring to-

Jessie: (interrupting James) But we came here to help you. After all, that bratty little trainer of yours is way too terrible at Pokemon battling. She probably wouldn't even know how to command you! And so, you can choose to come to us, if you want.

James: (aside, to Meowth) We're supposed to be capturing Pikachu, not taming it! (Growls irritatedly) Has she lost her mind?!

Meowth: (aside, to James) What little she has left of it, I'd bet.

(Meanwhile, Pikachu goes over to Meowth and speaks to it.)

Meowth: (gulps nervously) It says... It says 'bring it on'!

(Pikachu gets into a battle stance, but Meowth just stands still, frozen in fear.)

Jessie: Well, what are you waiting for? Get up there and fight like a Poke'man!

(Meowth doesn't move.)

Jessie: Of all the nerve! Do I really have to do all this myself? (Saying so, Jessie angrily tosses Meowth, Who is currently screaming in terror, directly at Pikachu. When Meowth is close enough to her, Piikachu uses her Quick Feet to confuse Meowth.)

James: (aside, to Jessie) This was a bad idea...

Jessie: (aside, to James) Indeed it was.

(Finally, Pikachu uses her Thunder to finish Meowth off. It succeeds, and Meowth faints. Pikachu is the winner! But now that Jessie couldn't get her hands on Pikachu, she is angry at Meowth.)

Jessie: (shaking Meowth awake) Why'd you have to lose? You said you were strong!

Meowth: (mumbles) You was actually the one who said that, not me...

(Pikachu rolls over on the ground, laughing, and runs away in the process, while Jessie is still shaking Meowth. Another person defeated.)

Jessie: (To Meowth) Listen, you! You get back up and battle that Pikachu!

Meowth: I would, but... Jessie, look! Pikachu's not there anymore!

(Jessie, James, and Meowth look at the spot was Pikachu was laughing. Meowth is right. Pikachu has disappeared.)

Jessie: Urgh! What am I gonna do now?!

James: Why not just calm down and-

Jessie: Capture that Pikachu! Let's go!

(Jessie runs off to the ship's diving board, where Pikachu ran off to.)

Meowth: (whispers, aside, to James) Wasn't that our whole, entire plan from the start?

James. (says exasperatedly, aside, to Meowth) Just go with it...

( I am on the end of the diving board calling to Pikachu. Just then, Pikachu scurries under my legs hurriedly in an attempt to get away from Team Rocket, which causes me to lose my footing and almost fall off the ship. Only a millisecond later, Team Rocket runs to the diving board. James and Meowth are panting with exhaustion, but Jessie decides to speed up. Pikachu is standing at the edge of the diving board, too afraid to move, for the fear of falling into the water. Meanwhile, since Jessie decided to speed up, she accidentally rams into me, causing me to fall into Pikachu, and us both to fall into the water. Jessie growls, and her hands curl into fists, staring down at the water. She has made her decision.)

James: No way.

Meowth: She couldn't be wantin' 'ta...

(With a exasperated grunt, Jessie dives off the diving board, and into the water, now chasing after us. Meanwhile, I turn and look back, the fainted Pikachu still in my arms, and see the rather enraged Jessie.)

Jessie: THAT'S MY BABY YOU'RE HOLDING!

(I scream wildly in terror, and speed up my swimming, while Jessie swims after me, throwing random Poke-Balls from out of seemingly nowhere at my forehead, trying to make me lose footing in the water, so she can grab Pikachu. Finally, after many failed attempts to dodge the thrown Poke-Balls, I start to swim to the ship's ladder, and climb up it, whispering words of comfort to Pikachu. Pikachu, who is barely awake now, falls asleep under my embrace. Jessie, enraged at my strong will, throws a Poke Ball into the air and out emerges Dustox. She tells her Dustox to use Poison Sting on me, which it does, causing me to lose footing on the ladder and finally plunge into the water... with Pikachu, of course. Jessie, seeing this, teleports away out of fury, while James and Meowth, who are still standing on the ships balance board, awkwardly do the same.)

(Meanwhile, I am falling in the water, but I am too weak to save myself. With all its strength, Pikachu opens its eyes and, with all its strength, lifts me up out of the water.)

(Meanwhile, I am laying on the ships balance board, fainted, Pikachu licking my face. I wake up and see her doing so.)

Me: Pikachu, did you save me? (Pikachu answers in a happy cry.)

Me: Thank you, Pikachu!

(Silence.)

Me: Wait, does that mean we're friends now?

(Pikachu nods half-heartedly.)

Me: YES! THANKS, PIKACHU!

(I hug Pikachu, and it Thunderbolts me in surprise.)

Me: Ugh... You don't like hugs, do you, Pika..??

(Pikachu nods.)

Me: Thanks, for telling me... (I collapse.)

Daisy-related quotes

Daisy: (after bumping into little girl, rubbing head exasperatedly) Ugh... Is that the way all people welcome new folk? And to think I expected a more warmer welcome...

Hopeless Romantic Man: (upon hearing that Daisy is good at all sports) WAIT! DON'T LEAVE! TEACH ME, PLEASE!

Daisy: Hmph. I'd rather you teach yourself. (walks away)

Lucina related quotes

amiibo Lucina: (staring out window of car in awe, her face smushed against the glass)

Grace: "Is she always like this?"

Sonic: "Trust me, you'll get used to it."

Grace: (upon agreeing with amiibo Lucina about the dog) "High-five!" (Holds up hand)

amiibo Lucina: (stands there cluelessly)

Grace: (realizes Lucina doesn't know how to high-five) "Oh, yeah, I forgot." (I show her how, and, as my palm hits hers, Lucina backs away a bit out of shock.)

amiibo Lucina: "That hurt..."

Grace: "Well, my friends do it even harder than me. One time, I got high-fived by one of my friends and it felt like a knife-sword to the hand!"

amiibo Lucina: (puzzled by this remark) "So, you mean to say she actually stabbed your hand?"

Grace: "No, no! It just hurt... a lot."


	6. Flowers

The Flower Girl: Prologue: The Flower Girl

A car engine revved up as it started into ignition. The car started into motion, moving at the slow rate of 5 miles all because of the irritating person in the car in front of it. After a few minutes of moving at the pace of a turtle, my mom lost her nerve and finally honked the horn. She opened the window. "Hey, terrible driver!" She called. "Get a life, get a job, get married, and stop reading comic books all day!" I finished. Mom closed the window and we high-fived, grinning mischievously at each other all the while. Me and my mom were just now supposedly "escaping" the store and all those rushing people. We were already in the car, but - our kind of worst-case-scenario! - in front of the slowest car driver you'll ever see. Ever. So we gave them a piece of our mind and when they still didn't get out of our way, what did we do? That's right. We parked near Ernie's Shop Of Fun And Stuff and just sat there for a minute, breathing air into our angry lungs to calm ourselves down. And that was when Mom broke the calm silence by saying awkwardly, "I smell flowers again." She had smelled flowers before when we passed by here, too. I, of course, joked around and claimed that Arieth was the one selling the supposed smelly, pretty, flowers. Mom just laughed and said that couldn't be possible. I just awkwardly shrugged, merely saying that it was a joke. But now, I was thinking the total opposite of a funny joke. It wasn't like I would meet her in person, right? It wasn't like she was the one selling the flowers? But, perhaps it could be... No, mind. Stop. She isn't real, so, it can't be true. But then, Mom randomly said, "Look up! There's a pretty young girl selling flowers!" I rapidly looked up and saw... Arieth. Not a full-of-pixels Arieth, but a true, realistic, real Arieth. When I saw her I was so stunned I almost fainted. My mom warned me not to go up to her and ask her about Arieth, not knowing that it really truly WAS Arieth in reality. And that was when her kind hazel-green eyes meet my deep blue ones. She waved and smiled. At this point, my mom was speaking words to me but I merely ignored her. Arieth gestured to me to come to her, still smiling. And that was when I ran out of the car and slammed the door.


	7. The Current Events

The Current Events: Prologue.

A car engine revved up as it started into ignition. The car started into motion, moving at the slow rate of 5 miles all because of the irritating person in the car in front of it. After a few minutes of moving at the pace of a turtle, my mom lost her nerve and finally honked the horn. She opened the window. "Hey, terrible driver!" She called. "Get a life, get a job, get married, and stop reading comic books all day!" I finished. Mom closed the window and we high-fived, grinning mischievously at each other all the while. Me and my mom were just now supposedly "escaping" the store and all those rushing people. We were already in the car, but - our kind of worst-case-scenario! - in front of the slowest car driver you'll ever see. Ever. So we gave them a piece of our mind and when they still didn't get out of our way, what did we do? That's right. We parked near Ernie's Shop Of Fun And Stuff and just sat there for a minute, breathing air into our angry lungs to calm ourselves down. And that was when Mom broke the calm silence by saying awkwardly, "Why don't we go inside for a minute?" I just stared at her like she was crazy. "Why go inside when we've already experienced enough shopping for one-" I stopped. Mom was already at the store door. "Mom!" I called, rushing out to the store door, hoping against all hope that she had waited for me back there.

"MOM!" I practically screamed, darting into the store like I was on fire. Everyone stared at me. Ok, I'll admit it, that might not've been much of a good idea. But I totally know what to do in this situation! I looked around the store as my panic and worry increased. Then, when I didn't see her, I continued to buy random free stuff and tiny, small candy bars with my own money (AKA: 25-dollars) from my own house. "When you can't find your Mother, you just buy tiny candy bars and free stuff? Good, because that's totally what I would do." I whip around. A young girl with long silver hair extending to her legs wearing a pure-white dress is standing near me. I wave awkwardly. "Uh... Hello. As you can probably already tell, my mom has ran away into some weird part of this store." She just shrugs. "Happens all the time with the people here. They get an tiny urge just to come into the store. It grows bigger by the time they're there and they forget about absolutely everything that they care for upon entering the store. They only think of..." She pauses to shiver coldly, as if the next word could hurt her. "Themselves." I smile. "That fits my moms criteria perfectly. Always rushing, boastful, and so random. Kinda like you." She shrugs again. "I like being random. It's fun." I nod back in agreement. "Ever heard of the fox with two tails?" I ask her. She nods back at me. "Tails, The Flying Pheonix!" We both laugh. And that was when it dawned on me. "You play Sonic The Hedgehog?" I ask her. "Yes, I also play Final Fantasy." She says. I clear my throat. "When Sonic says he's too fast a hedgehog and he goes into slow-mo, what's the result?" "A Subsonic Hedgehog!" She repiles back happily. We both high-five while smiling. "My name's Sara!" She says happily. I nod. "My name's Grace. It's nice to meet you, Sara." And then I heard a scream. A loud, high-pitched, alarmed scream of pain. And it just came from over near the back of the large store. "I know that scream! I know that scream!" I think to myself in alarm. I react instantly, without even thinking. "MOM!" I scream, darting to the back of the store.

In the back of the store...

Hah, hah, hah, hah. "Finally... Made it.." I somehow manage to breathe out. But then, I see my Mom. She is currently laying on the floor fainted. I run up to her. "Mom!" I shake her. She wakes up, but right when she opens her eyes and utters my name weakly, she faints again. Or is she dead? I hug her sorrowfully. "Mom.." I say, crying tears of utter sorrow. "Wake up..." She does not wake up. I howl and bury my head into her chest. She still doesn't make a sound. Just then, a piercing gust of wind nearly knocks me off of my feet as I struggle to stand up. Is there a window open? Had a big draft blown in? Or... I see a figure. A tall masculine figure with long silver hair and green-cat-like eyes that is wielding a 3-inch long katana. He just glares at me. I smile nervously. "Hello." The cold glare on his face still remains. "You're not a Centra or a Ancient..." He mutters toward me. "Then, what are you?" "I'm a human." I answer. He steps back, clutching onto his head tightly as if that simple word pains him. "What's wrong?" I ask him considerately. He takes another step back. "You... You ignorant fools..." Then, without a word, he vanished into thin air... Who WAS he? And why did he look so familar? "Grace?" A quiet voice interrupted me. "Your mom didn't encounter him, did she?" It's Sara. I do not answer her. Then, she comes running when I do not answer and sees me and my dead mom. She gasps in horror. "So he did come..." She said quietly, in awe. "It's just they said... Keep on waiting and that man will soon come back here again.." She walks toward me. "I'm SO sorry about your Mother, Grace. Do you have anywhere else to stay?" I shrug. "I could call my Nanny and Papa."

At Nanny's...


	8. Glitch

Glitch Pokemon

Description: Grace meets a strange, small Pokemon, and also meets a young (but also just as strange) and sweet Lass.

~Grace~

No Pokemon found... the PokeRader read. I frowned. Why not? I had been walking around all day, trying to find the amazing *CLEFAIRY* PIPPI outside Celadan City, but nothing had happened. I sigh, putting my left hand on my hip. "Well, I guess I should just give up..." I say, defeated. I walk over to a tree and lay down, highly depressed. But I brighten up when I suddenly see the grass rustling. I frown. It looked like a small Pokemon about to come out. Even if it wasn't a Clefairy, it was still a small Pokemon! After all this ultimate failure... I NEEDED IT! The second the small being emerged from the grass, I threw the Poke Ball at it. It-whatever it was-got trapped in the ball. But, instead of the ball clicking, it instantly came out of the ball and tried to scurry away. I could now see the small 'Mon-and I was really glad I *did* see it, for I had never at all seen anything like it before. It looked almost like a small, Bug-type Pokemon. It was about the size of a golf ball, but since it wasn't circular, that information isn't accurate. After all, it wasn't just *small*... it was actually about the size of a midget bug. But, anyway, it had a blue body, and it also had four small legs. Secondly, it had no eyes (I assumed it probably used its legs as feelers). But it *did* have a small mouth that just looked a bit blank. Just by looking at it, I was now highly intrigued. Right before it could run away, I screamed out the word, "Wait!". The Pokemon turned around with a scared frown on its sort-of small "face". I smiled. "It's OK." I held out my arms, and the Pokemon backed away quickly. It didn't like me for some reason. Just then, I had a random thought out of nowhere. Maybe it *wasn't* wild? Maybe it had another Trainer to keep it as a pet... That would explain why it didn't trust me: I wasn't its Trainer. And my assumption turned out to be right, for the instant I thought of it, a Lass came out from the behind the tree I had originally been resting on and walked right over to the strange Pokemon. She petted it on the head, and it jumped twice on its stubby little legs in joy. I walked over. "So this is your Pokemon?" The girl smiled and nodded. I grinned back. (It's actually true, you know. Smiling *is very* contagious.) "Well, I'm Grace. What's your name?" The girl shook her head, putting a finger over her lips. I frowned. "A secret?" The girl nodded. "Well, that's OK. My name's Grace. It's nice to meet someone who likes small, cute Bug-type Pokemon like I do." I talked to her the whole day, feeling like she would become my friend. But when I woke up the next day, I was in a bed at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center, even when I hadn't made it to Cerulean City yet. And, the most strange part about it? The odd, silent girl had vanished and was completely gone.

~L L Y L L~

This Trainer was interesting. She seemed very nice and understanding. Still, I decided not to tell her my name, for I didn't want her to hear my true voice yet. For now, I would stay as if I was mute... She still told me *her* name, though, and said that she liked small, cute Bug-type Pokemon like I did. I knew she was referring to .mp'u, the little Pokemon I had used to test the girls kindness. I loved .mp'u very much. It wasn't mine, but it somehow accidentally ended up in Glitch City, our hometown, and found me one day when I was about to leave and go to another game so I could steal someone's Pokemon. Mp'u wanted to come, so I let him. From then on, he was my Pokemon, not by the games choice, but my my own. I really loved the guy. He was so sweet. Also, Grace was obviously a novice. Mp'u wasn't a Bug-type at all... he was instead a Pokemaniac-type. I wouldn't have been mad if she called him a Bird-Type, though. Also, she was rude when she called mp'u small. He was exactly 23 inches. Humans are just so ignorant... but, the strange part is, this girl seemed different to me. But, even so, would she want a little ticket to our beloved Glitch City? There was only one way to find out.

Glitch Trainer

Description: Grace talks to and battles a strange, silent Pokemon Trainer that looks like a Lass, and it turns out to be the same one she met outside Cerulean City.

I walked around Route 15 and suddenly I saw a Trainer. She was walking around with her tiny Pidgey. She looked like a Lass... I frowned. For some reason for which I don't really know, I've just always loved talking to Lasses. They're just so sweet... So why not try talking to this one? I ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and put on a shocked face. For some reason, there was something familiar about this Lass... "Hi." I say, smiling. The girl smiles back at me, and there is a long silence. "What's the matter? Can't you talk?" I ask her. The lass shakes her head no with a sad expression. "Oh. Well I'm sorry." I say, feeling really bad. Suddenly, I realized what it was: "Hey, didn't I meet you and one of your Pokemon outside Cerulean City?" The Lass beams and nods vigorously: she is rather happy to have recognized me, it seems. "I'm glad it's you." I I beam again at the Lass, pulling a PokeBall out from my pocket. "Want to battle? After all, our eyes met." I explain. The Lass which I now know thinks for a minute, and tells me by holding up her finger to give her just a few minutes. She walks away, still thinking about what to do. What is there to think about? Our eyes met: we battle. But I didn't say anything. I didn't want to possibly hurt her feelings. So I just watched her as she silently stood in thought.

~L L Y L L~

so somehow my iPods Suggestive keyboard came up with this unstable name for my fanmade Lass Glitch Trainer all by itself and TBH I'm really scared of my iPod now

Hm. I didn't know what to do. I had just tried to capture someone else. It didn't work. But this Trainer-This Trainer was interesting from the get-go. The first time I met her in Cerulean City, she seemed different than all the rest. And it was just as I thought, for she was certainly unique, and seemingly a very nice child still. I wondered if I could do it. If I could keep her. I really wanted to. She certainly seemed nice enough and naive enough to let us keep her. That was that... I would battle. I didn't want to use a lot of 'abnormal-looking' glitch Pokemon because that way the Trainer would find out what I was really fast. The only hybrid glitch Pokemon that I had on me were a TRAINER (looks like a Magnenite), a Charizard 'M, (looks like a Charizard), and a m'pu which looks like a normal Pokemon to me. (It looks kind of like a tiny little elephant foot or some kind of tiny animal. It's just so cute, especially to us!) Lucky for me I had copied a level 100 Pidgey from another persons party and also a level 100 Bulbasaur by the name of ZZZZZZZZZZZ(...). (Endless Z's... I know what glitch that is, and I hate it. Compared to my stability (at least here), the Z(ZZZZZZZZ...) Glitch is so very *unstable, that the players name is even changed to the endless Z(..)'s. Therefore, that was about the only thing I got from it: a glitched Bulbasaur from the players party. (That player definitely hacked his game just to see me... He'll probably get a Glitch/Bad Egg replacement in his party for his selfless act of kindness in joining our City, I bet you money.) I really always have wanted a Bird, though. But I could always just have a Missingno. too. But, anyway, let's move on...) I can't use the strong Bulbasaur in battle as it knows Explosion, a move which is not something a 'regular' Bulbasaur should know. So I think I'm going to go with my TRAINER, my Charizard M, my Pidgey, m 'pu, and, at the end, if she has knocked out every other one of my Pokemon... She'll get met with a horrible fate... and she'll also get a ticket-a ticket from my beloved, powerful .v to a place called Glitch City. (That's the place we take our captors. It's very fun there-you get to practically break the laws of psychics-you can walk on/through walls, walk through obstacles without any pain, teleport everywhere, and just generally have fun! Most regular Trainers don't like being in Glitch City for very long, though.. I don't really understand why. I also notice that they always try to run away in Glitch City. An important side note: you can't run away in Glitch City. If you do, you'll end up in the *void*! ...Just kidding, that isn't in this game. Instead of the void, you'll stay *here, in Glitch City forever, no matter how hard you run! That way you'll know how we felt to be scrapped away for all these years...) Since she understands my muteness and just me in general, though, she might be different: she just might like it there. But, if she gets scared and tries to run away (which is what usually happens), I'll do the usual method... Now determined to capture her, I turned around and nodded seriously to her to show her that I could battle now.

And that was it: the battle was on. I sent my Pidgey to battle, just as the female child sent out a Pikachu: level 30, the game told me. At this, I decided to quickly make Pidgey a level 32. I blinked at Pidgey, and, almost instantly, it's level changed. It's moveset also immensely changed to match up with the actual moveset of a level 32 Pidgey. I lowered its stats immensely as well. Finally, after those stat changes were over in almost a mere instant, I smiled at the child, showing her that I was ready, and gave a sign with my hand telling her to tell her Pokemon to attack first.

~Grace~

She was ready. With that, I commanded my Pikachu to use Thunder and it hit the Pidgey hard as a critical hit AND a super-effective move combined. Pidgey fell to the grassy floor, almost fainted. I mentally grinned: I was *already* winning this match. But I was greatly shocked when the Pidgey managed to weakly stand to its feet and angrily charge on its stubby little feet at Pikachu. "Pikachu, dodge it!" Pikachu dodged and attacked the Pidgey. Unprepared for the sudden attack, with no way to defend itself now, the Pidgey finally fell to the ground, fainted. With that, The Lass sent out her second Pokemon: a Shiny Magnemite. "Oh, nice!" I awed. "You have a Shiny!" The girl giggled mutely at my excitement and nodded her head at me while smiling sweetly. (It's such a shame she can't talk, we would probably get along even better then! I really want to hear her giggle, too, that is, if she could talk..) I commanded my Pikachu to use Tackle an the Magnemite used Tackle too. Pikachu and Magmenite collided: both fell to the ground and got back up without any effort. Some more Tackles and Thunder Waves, and Magnemite was down, but the Lass had still put up quite a fight. I grinned at the sweet Lass. "You're not bad." The Lass merely giggled again. I could tell she was really happy to do battle with me. And, you know what? To tell you the truth, I was really happy too. That is, until my own Pokemon noticed one single, mere flaw that I didn't.

The Lass sent out a Charizard next as her third Pokemon, and I kept letting Pikachu battle. "Alright, Pikachu, it's a Flying-type, This should be easy! Just use your Thunder!" But Pikachu just stood there, like it didn't want to fight. And, yes, Pikachu did *not* want to fight. It knew. It knew, way deep down, that this was not a normal Charizard, just by looking at it. For starters, it was odd. It appeared to be phasing, almost as if its true Form wasn't actually a Charizard. Almost as if it wasn't a real Pokemon at all. (So you figured it out.) As Pikachu thought these things, it could've sworn it had heard someone lightly giggling. Pikachu turned to face the Lass. She-no, *it*- was phasing out. But I, at the time, didn't know about any of that. So I ordered my Pikachu to, again, use Thunder. But, still it stood, scared and immobile for reasons which I did not know, now staring up into the eyes of the Lass's Charizard with a look of utter fear in its big, wide eyes. This was no ordinary Charizard, Pikachu knew. In fact, this was no ordinary Pokemon battle either... Why couldn't its trainer see what it saw? (Silly. She can't see because I blinded her with lies, and soon she will be forever blinded... just like we were in the past.) Pikachu did not know the answer to that, but, at the same time, it wanted to know, and yet not to know. Not wanting to know what was beyond those endless phases and those odd behaviors... And yet, before it even had the time to think, Pikachu suddenly felt itself being thrown into the air by a strong force holding it down: must be that weird Charizard. Suddenly, almost in an instant, Pikachu found itself flying through the air and landing straight into a tree. What power... It fell and landed on the ground in a fetal position. What maxed out power! Now it knew. Pikachu knew now, with definite thought, that this Charizard was no actual Charizard. After all, that Attack Stat was seemingly maxed out... It was technically a miracle that Pikachu was still alive after it hit the tree. "Come on, Pikachu, Stop messing around and just attack already!" I called out loudly. Why won't it Attack at all? I frowned, extremely puzzled. Pikachu gulped, now trembling with fear as the Charizard slowly stomped closer to it. Pikachu was filled with an immense fear, now that it knew what it knew: this Charizard was not a Pokemon, it was a abnormality, something that shouldn't even exist in this world. Was the Lass the very same way? Before Pikachu could even think about it, the Charizard Slashed Pikachu and, out of fear, right before it fainted, Pikachu emitted a scream of horror and, out of nowhere, used Thunder on the fake replica of Charizard. Pikachu fainted, but the Lass's Charizard had fainted as well: it was a draw, at least for now. I returned my odd Pikachu to its Poke Ball and sent out a Clefairy that I had named Pippi. But, this was strange. The second Clefairy laid eyes on the Lass, it started to shiver in fright. I frowned and rolled my eyes in somewhat of a form of exasperation. Why were my Pokemon acting so strange? And what was wrong now?! Ignoring my Clefairy's strange reaction to her like it was simply nothing at all, the Lass sent out a small, midget-sized blue Bug-type, the same one I had seen back when we had first met right outside Cerulean City. I smiled. "I see. You're using that one." The girl smiled and giggled mutely to acknowledge my statement. Clefairy looked at the Pokemon. It was actually rather small, but it was also phasing out to become really, really big. Why was this? Clefairy didn't know. So she looked back at the Lass, hoping she wouldn't see the same exact thing she saw a few seconds ago... But she did. It was just the same as then: one minute, she saw the Lass, the next minute, she saw this horrible blocky, stringy mass of pixels in the shape of a Lass (it's body had binary numbers all over it, almost like it had an error in loading data) commanding the strange Pokemon she had sent out to attack in a strange, painfully slow, odd and glitchy voice that poor Clefairy could not even comprehend. The voice didn't sound human at all... so was the *Lass* not human..?? Clefairy was so confused just thinking this way, so it did the only thing it knew to do in this situation: it pointed toward the abnormal Lass Trainer that wasn't a Lass Trainer in worriment, hoping to attract the attention of its Trainer. I saw Clefairy pointing toward the Lass. I should've looked. I should've screamed and ran. If only I couldn't seen what horrific things my Pokemon saw at that time... But I obviously could not. So, at that point, I just laughed. Clefairy turned around to look at me in dismay. As soon as it did, it could only gasp at what it saw. My body was distorted, and very messed up, almost pixelated, and very blocky. "Clefairy, what are you so afraid of? Go on and attack already!" I urged it, not knowing a single thing. To my surprise, Clefairy did attack, and with a angry vengeance that completely KO'd the small blue Bug-type. I smiled. "Great job, Clefairy." I turned to the Lass. "I'm sorry for my Pokemon not wanting to cooperate during the Pokemon battle." The girl giggled, and I took that as an indication that she actually accepted my awkward apology. So I nodded to myself and waited for the next Pokemon the girl would send out. But the second she threw her Poke Ball, I was not met with the happy cry of the cute Pokemon that all Lasses normally have: I was instead met with a 23' inches-tall beast that had a *somewhat* indescribable shape that wasn't even a shape at all, and I was also met with a ear-splitting screech that nearly made my ears bleed out of their eardrums, to go along with it. On hearing it, though, I felt odd. Why did I feel this way? Why..?? The world was fading out. I didn't like this. What was going on? Out of the concert of my eye, I saw Pippi running up to the beast, about to attack. "No!" I yelled about as loud as I could in the horrible, strange state I was in. "Pippi, DON'T!" Pippi turned around and looked at me, wide-eyed. The odd-shaped beast hit Pippi and Pippi was sent flying into the air and seemingly disappeared into a white void that came out of nowhere in the Route. As she did, there was a strange, yet loud buzzing in my ears. A buzzing that I could not explain even if I tried my hardest... almost as if it was white noise. That's what it sounded like, anyway. It hurt my ears. Plus, it kept echoing, too. It echoed violently, like the most intense, violent, treble-induced surround sound I'd ever heard of was surrounding me. And that was when I finally felt myself pass out.

"Hee hee. Sleep tight, sweet Trainer... and be ready to wake up to a wOrLd Of hOrrOr."

Glitch City

Description: Grace wakes up and finds herself in a place that was perhaps never meant to be seen, or even discovered.

"Why isn't she waking up?" "I don't know. She's taking a long time..." I was nearly awake, but not quite yet. I heard two voices that somehow sounded exactly the same. This made me puzzled. Also, when had I passed out? Finally, after a while, I managed to remember *some* things, at least: I had been battling with that Lass, my Pokemon were acting strange, and... oh my gosh. That odd encounter with her last Pokemon was really odd. Plus, why had I lost control and passed out afterwards? After some exertion, I managed to move my hands to feel the ground below me. It felt strange, not like regular ground at all. It almost felt like nothing was there. Finally intrigued, and also a little bit scared, I opened my eyes fully.

What I saw I could never have been prepared for in the slightest. All around me, there were things that no man should ever see. There were displaced buildings to my right that were almost cut off from existence (literally, there was no entrance to the so-called 'GYM'), and, to my left, a small patch of grass that looked rather distorted. Weird, odd discolored white tiles with seemingly random numbers on them lay out endlessly ahead of me. The ocean was perched on only one side of this abomination as far as I could tell, but it was a very short ocean, landing only in one square of the town. Everything seemed odd and misplaced. I gulped. I could tell already, just by looking, that this wasn't something I-no, any man-was supposed to see or explore. No words could barely even describe it, in all its immense strangeness. What even *was* this oddity? All of a sudden, I heard a voice that seemed very familiar: "Hi, do you have a Pikachu?" I frowned. What was it that was familiar about that line? I turned around. A Lass stood behind me. The same Lass, from the huge maze known to man as the Viridian Forest... But how did she get here? No... why was she here? Plus, she had asked me that question when I first saw her. Suddenly, the scenery changed out of nowhere. I was suddenly back in Viridian Forest, with the girl still quizzically staring at me. I didn't tell her anything about my Pikachu, because I thought she might remember seeing it and say something about it in a few minutes. I waited. Nothing happened, and the girl was still staring at me, almost as if she was frozen stiff. Suddenly, I heard another voice: "Are you alright? You look like you've been badly hurt." This was the voice of the Lass who I had met at the Pokemon Center in Cerulean City. The scenery changed again. Now I was sitting up in the Pokemon Center bed, and the Lass from just yesterday was looking at me in sorrow again. I didn't know what was going on. Was it some kind of time loop the game was making me go through? Maybe it was doing it because I had seen this horrid, confusing place that no man was supposed to find? Suddenly, I heard something odd: "Ding-dong." It sounded like a bell... "Your Safari Game is over!" Huh? Safari Game?! I found myself in Fuschia City in the Safari Zone entrance. "Did you get a good haul?" The man asked me in a good-natured way, grinning cheerfully while doing so. I frowned. What in the world was happening?! I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach and confused-no, *more* than confused. In fact, confused isn't even the word I'm looking for here... Suddenly, I decided to walk out of the Safari Zone to find answers. "Bye!" I told the man. "Come on back, now!" The man said, waving kindly at me. He acted like I had just participated in a Safari Game. I was so confused, I didn't know what to think. Maybe I had caught some Pokémon earlier today in the Safari Zone and just forgotten about it. Maybe the man just remembered and was talking to me about that. But all the 'maybes' were crushed when I walked out the exit to the Safari Zone... And, just like that, I was back in the confusing place with no name (that I knew, anyway) but this time everything around me was white and bland. Not a hint of color to be seen. I wanted to scream. Suddenly, I felt a presence. At this, I turned, hoping it was a rescuer coming to save me. It wasn't. It was instead a Lass. Was it that same one? No, it couldn't be: her steps were slow-almost *too* slow, and seemingly not deliberate. I frowned nervously and stayed silent, looking back to escape back toward the exit I had just walked out of, but now there was no exit, or Safari Zone building, to be seen. In truth I really wanted to loudly scream out. What was going on? The Lass finally made her way to me, but, instead of their usual sweet voices, I instead heard the voice of a pure abnormality: a voice, soft and sweet, and yet very slow and dragging, almost tired and sad-sounding. And that day, what she asked me in those slow, immensely dragging words were: "Hi... do you have a Pikachuuuuuuu...???" I just stood, horrified at what I was hearing and seeing. This Lass wasn't normal. This whole stupid *place* wasn't normal. Before I could run away and never come back, the Lass suddenly disappeared into a flurry of pixels seemingly melting into the floor. And that was when I heard another voice, sounding just like the cheerful Lass from Viridian Forest, somehow not the weird *abomination* that I had just encountered: "Did you enjoy the show?" The 'show'? What *show*? Suddenly, the environment changed and I was back in the blocky, messed up, illogical world whose name I (gladly) couldn't identify. A Lass was now standing in front of me. But all the Lasses I had seen here looked exactly the same. I frowned intently. Which one was she? "I said, did you enjoy the show?" The Lass echoed the words to me, and smiled. That smile... that purely innocent smile... there's no way. *No* way this is her. No way in this world. She couldn't even talk to me before... Then, I looked up at Lass to make sure. But, for some reason, just by looking at her that mere second ago, I already knew it was her. And yet, when I looked at her again... there was one single difference I managed to notice that simply *horrified* me. The Lass's body was phasing-phasing into something smaller, something that looked inhuman. It wasn't a Pokemon, or a human, but, surely it *was* completely horrifying. I gulped nervously, finally deciding to ask a simple question: "W-W-W-Why do you have the voice of the Lass from Viridian Forest?" I finally managed to stammer out. "Well... let's just say that it's not my *true* voice." The girl said, still smiling secretively. I frowned. Not her true voice? What did that mean? The Lass giggled playfully. "Oh, you're curious... I can show you my true voice now, if you want me to." The Lass offered. Had she read my mind? With no time to think about it, too nervous to speak properly, I merely told her the words: "Um... sure." The Lass giggled cheerfully again. "Alright! Can I tell you my name too?" She seemed excited. I frowned, still confused. In fact, it felt like my mind was going to break apart. But still, I agreed to her showing me her real voice and, also, telling me her name. The Lass smiled. "Ok. My name is-" Without even taking a breath, the Lass suddenly rapidly jumbled out a large string of a bunch of letters and words at a speed that I could not even comprehend. Her name was inhuman. Her speed was inhuman. Was *she herself* inhuman, too? Suddenly, I randomly remembered something important from an article on Wikipedia: Glitch Trainers in Pokemon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow are very hostile. They can crash your game, and take you into Glitch City if you aren't careful. (I simply remembered Glitch City at the time as a bunch of random tiles and game-breaking oddities in the Pokemon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Versions.) There, they will keep your Trainer as a pawn or may turn your Trainer into a glitch. If any, or both of these things happen, then your Trainer (and your crashed and corrupted save file) will never be returned to you. I advise extreme caution on facing these Trainers. I thought they were kidding. I thought they were joking. But they weren't. I realize that now. Without thinking, I try to run. It's practically the only thing I know now to do. 'Keeping me as a pawn' didn't mean that they could keep me while I *wasn't* claimed a pawn of a glitch yet. RIGHT?! Wrong. Everywhere I tried to run, it would look different. And everywhere I turned around to find somewhere to hide, an area would change tremendously, leaving me with nowhere at all to go. I fell to my knees in defeat. This was all so inhumanely confusing. In fact, it was already starting to make me get another migraine... "Are you sure you want to run away?" I looked up. The Lass. Had she followed me here? Or... She smiled down at me, but this time it was a dark smile. "Besides... aren't you forgetting something?" She gestured over to a Pokemon Center that looked like it had been disfigured, but somehow also managed to look even worse. A corrupted, glitchy Nurse Joy was walking out of it. She was holding, and binding down a cute, small Pokemon... I gasped. It was my Pikachu. "Pika!" Pikachu cried out for me, clearly in pain. What shocked me most was, as it did, I saw it's body change. Yes... I could've sworn I saw it turn into a Shiny Pikachu for a brief second, then back into a normal-skinned Pika. This wasn't normal... not at all. How could I just leave Pikachu and all my other Pokemon-wherever they were-in this monstrosity of a 'place'?! The Lass seemed to read my mind. "You want Pikachu and all your Pokemon back, don't you?" She said with a dangerous, but also a fake, yet also sweet, tone in her voice. I gulped. She was phasing in and out a lot, along with her voice almost becoming unstable and glitchy-sounding: and she was also definitely* angry. Was it because I tried to run? Well, in this deformed, illogical world, WHO WOULDN'T?! I needed Pikachu. I needed all of them. And yet... I looked toward Pikachu, who was now phasing rapidly into something-something bigger. Possibly turning into a Glitch Pokemon or something like that, I'd bet. Would they do the same thing with my *other Pokemon*? I gulped. "I..." I looked over at Pikachu. It was staring at me worriedly. "I..." I angrily curled my hands into fists, and then let them down. I sighed in defeat. I knew what I had to do. At least if I did this, then, at the very few, *some* of my remaining Pokemon could at least stay with me. "I want to become a Glitch Trainer," I finally told the Lass. Pikachu cried out in shock at my decision, but I simply ignored it. "If I can't simply leave here without you making me a pawn, making my *Pokemon* pawns..." My hands shook, and I felt dazed at my own decision. I hated myself. I hated the Glitch Trainer Lass. No... I hated every glitch in this *messed up world*! With that, I fell to the floor that wasn't a floor, crying and sobbing weakly, almost tiredly. My head felt heavy and, at the same time, strangely light-headed. What was I doing? This is the only choice... Finally, I managed to find the words again between my now-ruined, insane thoughts, "I just want to be with my Pokemon... Please..." I sobbed. "turn me into a Glitch Trainer like you." To be honest, I didn't even know if I was sane anymore. All I knew was my Pokemon in this odd, new landscape, and I knew I wanted them with me forever. That was all I knew now. That was it, and that was all. But, just what would the Lass say about this? "I will." The Lass said after a few minutes of thinking it over, which caught me rather off guard. "But you will have only Glitch Pokemon on your team. This means that you can have your Pikachu as a 4 4, your Clefairy as an m p'u, your Charmander as a Poketrainer, and your Gengar as just a regular Gengar (reference to the Gengar glitch I did, which explains why Lass says that the Gengar will still be a "regular Gengar"). I nodded numbly. "Ok, that's fine." Pikachu cried out. "Can I just talk to them for a minute?" I asked. The Lass nodded and the fake Nurse Joy roughly tugged me by the arm into the Pokemon Center. When we went in, I immediately saw my Charmander excitedly running up to me. It jumped up in my arms and I caught it. I sniffed sadly. Poor thing. He didn't know what was going to happen to me. To my Pokemon. And to everything... "I'm sorry." I whisper, salty tears falling down my face. "I tried my best to help you, to protect you... But everything's gonna be OK now, I promise. I promise..." I buried my wet face into his soft fur. He felt so warm. I liked that. I smiled numbly to myself and put Charmander down without even a warning. With that, I walked over to my Clefairy, my Pidgey, and my Squirtle. They were sadly crying for me... And I didn't know it at that moment, but I was crying too. "Alright, time's up." The Lass told me, pulling me back outside. She put a hand on my skin, and looked up at me to see if I was ready. I simply nodded. "Yeah, I am." The Lass closed her eyes and concentrated deeply. Suddenly, I felt some sort of energy flowing through my skin. It hurt, and yet didn't hurt. It cut my skin like blades, and yet it also soothed it like water. There was a strange sound. That buzzing/loud white noise again... It knew it was about to be all over for me now. After all this, I would be a Glitch Trainer, and nothing more. Tears fell down my face, and an image of Pikachu popped into my mind. I'm sorry. Next, Pippi. I'm sorry. After that, there was Charmander. I'm sorry... Next, Squirtle. I'm so *very sorry*! I cry silently to myself, and I wonder if I am losing my mind. Suddenly, there is a flash. A huge, white

flash that obscures my now blurry vision. And that was the last thing I saw before everything turned from white, to a endless black in an instant...


	9. Imaginarium

Imaginarium

Prologue

Different

From the start, Grace knew she was different. For example, she was a genius at age one. She knew things she shouldn't have known about back then: types of letters, animals, numbers, and the like.

She was very creative and was writing stories by age six. She started to write for fun at her family prompts then it became sort of a hobby, a way for her mind to pass the time.

'But, by that time, the signs had already started to appear.'

At the age of seven, she started seeing things... things that weren't really there. She would say, 'Oh, look! I just found a purple butterfly!', or maybe even something like 'Oh, the butterfly flew away..!! Can we go after it, Mommy?'

Back then, we perceived it as normal. They were just some simple imaginary friends, we thought.

But over the years, the number of her 'imaginary friends' got even bigger than before, prompting the family to band together and figure out what was wrong with their little girl.

But just how could they..???

The year? 2018. By taking her to a doctor, they finally realized that they might could find out whatever was wrong. So they took her, and our story begins there...

I

The Doctors Office

Sitting in the backseat of the car, bored, I was glad when I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Hey, Grace." A quiet, soft voice asked me.

I looked to my left: the source of the voice was Zelda.

"Where are we gonna be going?" She asked me in her soft, quiet voice.

I frowned. "I think we're going to see the doctor."

Zelda frowned right back. "Why would we be going there, when we could just see Dr. Mario right here?"

I laughed. "I'd rather stick with the doctor here. After all... I didn't think Dr. Mario was that great of a doctor anyway."

Zelda smiled laughingly. "True. Remember last time?"

I smiled, remembering the time Dr. Mario almost killed Shulk by throwing a huge 'medicine-fighter' at him. It was technically a miracle that he was still living. "I'll never forget that." I say, trying not to laugh.

"...Who are you talking to?" My mom asks me from the front seat.

I giggled. "No-one. Just a friend of mine, Mom."

Mom sighed. "Ok. Who is this friend of yours?"

I smiled. "Her name's Zelda."

Zelda smiled. "I'm really one of your friends?"

I beamed. "Course you are. You're amazing, and you help me through thick and through thin."

Zelda grinned. "I'm glad."

A playful and cold, yet equally quiet and soft voice came from my right: "What about me?"

I turned: it was Lilu, wearing a playful smirk.

"Trouble and Futura have been with me the longest." I joke. "But you somehow still fit the bill."

Lilu smirked, amused. "Whew, I'm glad."

I smiled fondly. "Who am I kidding? I love every single one of you equally just as much."

—————————————

"Drive faster," the mom said. "We'll be late for the appointment if you go any slower."

"I'm trying to, believe me." The dad said annoyedly, almost slamming on brakes due to the car in front of us driving at the speed of 10 miles per hour.

I paid no mind to their argument, nor to the slow person in the car in front of us: I was instead focusing on training my Inkling amiibo, whom I had named 'Squiddy', for the upcoming SSB Amiibo Tournament.

Inkling had almost wrecked Robin, and soon the battle ended.

Inkling had won with flying colors.

"You won!" I clapped my hands excitedly. "Great job!"

She held up her Ink Blaster in a defensive stance while smiling gleefully about her victory.

"Woomy!" Inkling sputtered out.

I laughed gleefully. "Yes, that's right—Woomy!"

I hugged Inkling close to me and laughed. "BOO-YAH! This is IT! We're gonna aim for the top in that Tourney! Isn't that right, Squiddy?"

My mom and dad exchanged worried looks in the backseat, but I didn't know.

I was too caught up with how happy I was over Squiddy's victory.

————————————

A few hours later, we had arrived at the doctors office.

We had to wait in the waiting room for a while, so I decided to call on some more of my friends to help me get through my boredom.

"Hey, Mom." I asked. "Is it OK if I call on Star to play with her while I wait for the doctor to come in the room?"

My mom looked up at me with a expression I couldn't quite read. "Sure. Go on ahead, honey."

I smiled, taking no notice to her feelings. I was completely oblivious to them, at least for now. "Yay! Thanks, Mom!"

"...Star." I whispered to her after a few seconds. "I'm here, at the doctors office, and I'm really, *really* bored. Can you please come by here and talk to me?"

Immediately, she appeared. "Grace, you're bored?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Star smiled. "I'm bored, too."

I nodded, annoyed.

"Well, do you want to call on someone else?" Star asked me.

I nodded. "That would be great!"

I smile. "Ok, here goes..."

Everyone, I'm bored and I need company, I say in my mind. Won't some of you please come by to make me happy?

Immediately, some people appeared.

One was a girl with long black hair and bright green eyes: Miracle.

"I only came because I heard Star was here." She said.

I grin, half-laughing. "Well, thanks anyway." I joke, still smiling.

The other person was Snake.

He looked at me, frowning disapprovingly. "I was forced into this." He tells me.

I grin fondly. "Well, thanks for coming anyway."

The next, a young woman with long blue hair and turquoise eyes, Miku.


	10. Indugo

Indigo

I.

The Beginning

All was well in Cinnabar Island. I had flew there on a whim, and now I didn't want to leave. The sun was shining, the scenery was unchanging. Everything was virtually perfect... That is, until I heard sobbing. Soft, faint sobbing. Was it coming from the shore? I ran toward the shore, and saw a boy. A young boy with short purple hair, looking to be about 5, was sitting down at the edge of the coast. And he was crying. I frowned. I hadn't seen the kid around before. Maybe he was someone's child. But then, if that were the case, why would he be alone? "Hey," I whisper soothingly, walking slowly toward the child, "You alright?" The child tensed, and I saw that he was probably uncomfortable. "It's OK." I coo to the child and I start petting him on the head. To my surprise, he really liked it and was rather calm now. I grinned. I really should start baby-sitting... "Where are your parents, kid?" I ask him. (i wouldn't know if I even had any.) The kid looks up at me with a sad frown. I frown sadly back in return. He must not have any. "...Oh. Well, do you have a name, then?" (Yes, I do, but I cannot tell you mine. ...I wish to know yours.) The boy looks up at me, an expression of curiosity placed on his face. He might want to know my name first. "...Well, my name is-" Before I could even finish my sentence, I felt a rough tug on my arm, and then I felt a tough force that that almost pulled me off my feet. I turned around. The source of the strong force was a women. "Don't talk to that child." The women says sternly. I tilt my head in confusion. "Why not?" "That child is dangerous. That child is a abnormal being, and it isn't supposed to exist in this world. And I would appreciate it-and I'm sure everyone else would, too-if you left it alone and stopped bonding with it. Only bad things can result from what you are doing." I frowned, looking back at the boy. He didn't seem all that bad. In fact, he seemed perfectly innocent... and rather lonely. How could a little boy like him do such 'bad things'? "What 'bad things'?" I asked the women out of curiosity. "No one knows." The women shrugged. "But it's certainly some *horrible* bad things. So, if you will, I would prefer it if you never came to visit this boy again." The women pushed me roughly and I landed on the ground hard, gritting my teeth angrily in annoyance. "Stay away from him: this is my *final warning*." The women said sternly, right before turning around and slowly walking away. I glanced over at the boy after making sure that women had finally left. He was crying again. I frowned sadly. Poor thing... And yet, I didn't want to go against the women: she seemed really mean. But, at the same time, this lonely little boy needed a lot of comfort... I slowly stood up, my gaze on the boy. "Hey." I whispered quietly to the boy. The boy turned, startled. (Why haven't you left yet? The women told you all you "needed to know". Why aren't you scared?) "I gotta go." I whisper to the boy. "But I promise I'll be back tomorrow." At this, the boy eyes widened. (Really? You really promise?) I smiled at the boys shocked expression. "I'll be waiting." I whispered, right before I walked away, back to the Cinnabar Hotel.

Indigo

II.

Visit

The next day, I woke up ready to see the boy. But, just as I had gone out to shore, I heard a loud and angry voice over the horizon that sounded like it belonged to an adult male, "You idiot!!" I ran over toward the direction of the voice, and saw the boy being forcefully held down by a male adult. "Why didn't you multiply my Rare Candies?" He was screaming. Wait... what does that mean..?? The young boy gritted his teeth angrily at the adult, even as the adult continued to shake him around. "Tell me why! WHY?!" The boy stayed silent, looking down at the ground in indignation. (That's not what I want to do.) The man was silent, too, but after a while, he slowly spoke up: "I know why you didn't do it. Because you couldn't. You didn't want to do it because you only want to be loved for what you are. And you just want to believe that someone will come for you to love you one day. But..." The man tightened his clenched fists. "It won't ever happen. All because you're a mistake. You're a *complete mistake*! You were never meant to exist in this world! Your very existence is just an error!" (I know all this already...) The boy whimpered. "Shut up!" The man punched the boy in the face, and, due to the hard impact, the boy fell to the ground. "Die, you defenseless glitch! Go die!" The man roared, still punching the boy in annoyance. (Stop! Stop, please! Just stop!) Glitch? I was very confused about what odd things this man was saying, but I knew I had to stop this fight: it looked bad regardless. The boy could barely save himself from getting hit. Now he had his arms held out over his head, trying to block all the hits, but to no avail. "Stop!" I screamed, rushing up between man and boy, trying to separate them from each other. "JUST STOP!" The boy looked up at me with wide eyes. (She came, just like she promised... How sweet. No one's ever came back for me before...) The man glared intensely at me. "Who are you, 'the Glitch Trainer of the Month'? We're having an important conversation here. Go away and leave us alone!"


	11. Intro

The World Of Dolls

Introduction

My name is Grace Alford. I like food, games, and candy. I dislike tea cups, but I do like teacup puppies. And, one last thing... Ever since I was just a mere teeny tot, I was diagnosed with a deadly cancerous disease: leukemia. And, for some reason, I couldn't use my legs correctly either. I could kick and move about freely when I was a baby, but something happened when I became a tot and my legs stopped functioning. The stoic, serious doctors didn't believe in my survival. They kept saying that, "she's only going to live for one more year", but I refused to believe it. My childish mind kept refusing to believe the truth: that is, that even what gray, thin, black and white fate I even had - the borderline between truth and lies, fate and reality - had already been dictated and carved in stone, enclosed beneath the rock walls of time and space.

Sometime when I was only 3 years of age - the age I was supposedly going to die - I remember one of my doctors told me someone my age (who actually wasn't sick) was going to move in my hospital room - because of their sick Aunt right next door - and share my extra hospital bed with me. I remember that I felt so, SO happy, and tons of questions swirled throughout my brain: was it girl or guy? Were they nice or mean? And, lastly... Would they hate me because I had cancer?

I always saved that one for last. I never believed that anyone could hate someone for what illness they had. Besides, I knew it wasn't contagious, so in my childish mind at the time, I thought that whoever it was, they would like me and that we would be the best of friends. Little did I know, that we would both live to grow up, and when we did, we would both drift further and further apart, away from each other. But, to what destination? I didn't yet know the answer to that either...


	12. Jacred

Glitch: Jacred

I. Meeting

~Grace~

I used to think that all the humans were mean. But some humans are different. Some are mean, while some are also nice. I realize that now. ...That was close... I somehow snuck in the Team Rocket HQ without anyone noticing. It's only a matter of time before someone does, though... Well, anyway. I continue walking up the stairs, trying to get up to the top room. You might be wondering, what am I doing wandering around the Team Rocket HQ? The simple answer: they stole some Glitch Pokemon. Any of the Glitch Pokemon are my beloved friends, so I am going to save them before Team Rocket can do something horrid to them. I continue walking, and finally make it up to the top floor. The intruder alarm sounds. Dang it... With that, I run to Giovanni's office as fast as I possibly can without being caught, and open the door. He is sitting at his desk, in a large chair. He turns it around to face me, and smirks evilly. "I knew you were coming here." I growl. "Where are the Pokemon?!" Giovanni chuckles darkly. "Good question." I grit my teeth angrily, growling at Giovanni. "Hm. Quite the similar reaction." Giovanni pondered out loud. "What, similar to who?" I ask. Giovanni smirked. "He came in here, too, a few minutes ago. Oh, but you wouldn't know. You aren't like him. You're not made the same way." Giovanni rambles on. "Who? Who is this "he" you're talking about?" I screamed. Giovanni smiles. "Go on the elevator to room 13F and see for yourself." I frown. Was this a trap? Even if it was, my curiosity had now been piqued. Finally, I look back up at Giovanni, defeated. "Alright... I'll go." So I walk up the elevator and head to room 13F. I walk out, and see Team Rocket grunts and scientists standing everywhere in the room. Oh man... This *must have* been a trap. I'm technically surrounded already. Suddenly, I feel one of the Poké Balls in my bag vibrate. I frown, and open my bag, looking at the Poke Ball. Suddenly, a bright light expels from inside the Poke Ball and it somehow opens by itself. My Pikachu/4 4 is now out of its Poke Ball and sniffing at the ground curiously. "What is it? Why'd you pop out?" I gently ask 4 4. "Pika?" It questioned, twitching its ears upward with curiosity. Almost like it sensed something... Suddenly, in rapid formation, a form of glitched-out writing written by 4 4 appears on the HQ wall: ThErE iS sOmEoNe eLsE iN dAnGeR HeRe! Before I know it, Pikachu is running over to where the someone is. I run after it as fast as possible.

~Jacred~

Ding-dong. The elevator stopped moving and I walked out. It was floor 13F... the Team Rocket grunts and scientists were all around the room: they had clearly been expecting my arrival. I would have gave up right at that moment, but then I remembered the Glitch Pokemon they had stole. There was no way I could give up on *them: they were my friends. I *had* to keep going. With that, I pulled the black cloak part-way over my head and walked deeper in. "Pika pi!" I hear, and turn. Suddenly, as I do, I see a Pikachu running up to me. But, somehow, this one seems rather different... I hug the unknown Pikachu, and it cuddles with me while making a happy noise. I chuckle softly, amused. What a sweet one... it's name flashed across my mind: 4 4. So, it was a Glitch Pokemon? Was it possibly an escapee from Team Rocket? "Poor thing." I whisper softly, while rubbing Pikachu's fur. "Did Team Rocket try to capture you?" Suddenly, one word comes to mind: Trainer. I smile at this and continue petting Pikachu. So it wasn't a escapee. Is its trainer here? I ask myself. ...Yes. A vision hits, and, in a millisecond, it is over. I gasp. It can't be... Suddenly, I see the Trainer. Just like in the future vision, she is turning a comer towards me, probably after her Pikachu. But, before she can get to me, a Team Rocket Grunt sees her, and walks up to her, asking to battle. "If you win, you can get the key. But, if you lose, you can get lost!" The Grunt says cockily. What a mean gang. (They've always been that way, though...) I frown. I need to help her. I pull my black hood part-way over my head and run right in. The Grunt is still rambling, but when he notices me, he immediately glares coldly. (I've been thwarting their Glitch Pokemon hostages for a long while, even before I got this new body, and I've practically become a regular sight around the HQ.) "What are you doing here?" He retorts. "You *know* what I'm doing here." I retort back. "I'm here to battle, and to help this Trainer." The Trainer turns to me in shock. The Grunt just curls his hand into a fist annoyedly. After shaking annoyedly and not speaking for a few minutes, he finally speaks up, "Alright, fine! It's a double battle, then! I can use both my Pokemon!" The Grunt sends out a Raticate and an Ekans. The girl sends her Pikachu/4 4 out to the battle. I brush my hand through my light-blonde hair cooly, summoning up a pixelated PokeBall in my hand. I grab a hold of it, and it turns normal. "Alright, it's time. Come on and help, Charizard 'M!" I throw the PokeBall down and it comes out. "You have a Charizard 'M?" It is the Trainer asking the question. I turn to look at her, a look on surprise placed on my face. She is being truthful, certainly, and she is also smiling in awe. I smile back. Impressive. Not many Trainers know of Charizard 'M. (They usually think that he's just a regular Charizard.) She seems to be a *very* smart girl... Plus, she seems rather nice. "Yes, he's a very smart Pokemon." I pet my Charizard 'M and it roars happily. "Do you have one?" I finally ask her. The girl nods. "Yes, I do." Ah, another Glitch Trainer... And one that actually seems to accept me, no less. How sweet. ...Grace. Something tells me her name is Grace. She seems rather trustworthy. Maybe-just maybe-I could tell her... "Can we just get on with the battle?!" The Grunt roars. I turn toward the Grunt, and, thinking of my friends still in hostage, I immediately glare at him, my eyes seeming to glow orange, "Anytime. Whenever you're ready." I run my hand through my hair cooly to calm myself. As I do, my eyes turn back to their regular grayish light-and-icy blue color. "Alright, then." The Grunt says, and laughs mockingly, "I can beat you weaklings! You take the first move!" I frown. "Don't get too cocky. Charizard 'M, use Seismic Toss on his Ekans, as fast as you can!" "WHAT?!" The Grunt screamed out, miserably unprepared to tell his Pokemon a command, as they always were. (Their cockiness gets them nowhere at all.) The Trainer didn't give Ekans a command, so it didn't try to dodge. Instead, it let itself and the other Pokemon in his party (a Raticate) get hit and they both immediately fainted. At this, The Grunt nervously sweat-dropped. "Uh..." He stared at us, tears of nervous sweat dripping down his face. "gotta run!" He started to run, but before he could get away completely, I grabbed him by his "Team Rocket" red-and-black shirt-collar. I was angry, but I was trying to calm myself. I was trying not to hurt him, or to throw him around, and I didn't want to get unstable and do the exact opposite. Sure, he may have deserved it, but I didn't want to fight him anymore. I would leave calmly, and I would *not* hurt him. I calmly said these words to the Grunt, "Give us the Key, and I'll let you go." The Grunt panicked and gave us the Key. Then he ran away into his Bosses's room. "I don't understand why they send the Grunts out to face intruders. At most, they should send Giovanni out to face them at least *sometimes*." Grace said from behind me. I smiled calmly, turning around to face her. "I think so, too. ...Well, anyway. Let's go save the Pokemon." Grace smiled. "Of course. Let's go!" With that, we both ran together to the control room. And as we did, I couldn't help noticing just how happy I was to be noticed by this person. Yes, she was nice... But, something told me she didn't apply by the laws of code. Then again, this new body goes against the laws of code entirely. But still... could I really tell her..?? And if I did, would she eventually accept me in the end? Well, there's only one way to find out...

~Grace~

AKA: Stalker Mr. Fuji paragraph

I opened the door to Mr. Fuji's house and I found myself being nearly attacked by Mr. Fuji with a sudden horde of questions, "Ok, what happened? Why do you meet him? Did you know you met him? Did you even know who *he was*?!" I frowned in confusion and near-annoyance, pushing Mr. Fuji off of me. "Who?" "The guy who you met at the Hideout!" Mr. Fuji said. "Oh, yeah. I remember now!" I exclaimed. "He was actually a really nice guy. ...Dang it! I forgot to ask about his name!" "Something tells me he wouldn't have told you anyway." Mr. Fuji said mysteriously. "Why wouldn't he?" I ask. "He's not just a he, but he's both a he and a it." Mr. Fuji commented. I tilted my head, utterly puzzled. "What do you mean by that?" I ask him. Without a word, Mr. Fuji silently took me by the hand and led me into the laboratory room. "You see, the boy you met goes by many names," Mr. Fuji pulled something up on the computer screen. "And these are just a few examples..." I looked at the many names. They were all odd and strange names, such as: A A, B, W, and LBW B'. "Are these names, or just parts of the alphabet?" I muttered confusedly to myself. "Do you remember when you went by the name ZZGZZLZZAZZ?" Mr. Fuji pondered. I nodded. "Yeah, why?" "Because he is very same way. He goes by many names. Some simply being fusions of automatically-generated player names, like Jacred, or Johblue." Mr. Fuji said to me. I frowned. "Does that mean that he's a..." I started to say in awe. "You're on the right track." Mr. Fuji said. "Look at this picture." He pulled up a picture on the computer. I looked, and nearly recoiled at what I saw: it was a picture of a red-and-yellow tinted irregular-shaped square cube. It kind of looked like my 4 4, or my /Q. I gasped. "Is that.. his true form?" I asked Mr. Fuji. He nodded. "Yes... He is a Glitch Trainer." I gasped. "That's amazing. He seemed so self-aware when I met him, though..." "He is." Mr. Fuji agreed. "The reason why is because he did not stay trapped in one place like Missingno. Unlike Missingno., he got lonely and traveled around the cities in his true form and learned how to properly mimic human behaviour and that's how he eventually made a sort-of "human" body for himself. He can feel, too, just like the rest of us, and he's feeling more and more with each and every day." I gasped. "That's so cool. Does he want to get revenge on humans, like some of the other glitches I've heard of?" "No." Mr. Fuji simply said. "That's why he's different than all the rest. Most glitches hate humans with all of them. And yet... for some odd reason, he doesn't. He certainly has been lonely his whole life, but he still trusts in people and doesn't want to hurt anyone." The Team Rocket scene flashed inside my head. I smiled in understanding. "Makes sense. Did he wear his hood around me so he wouldn't phase in and out around me?" Mr. Fuji frowned. "Possibly." I nodded. "Very smart." Suddenly, a knock at the door was heard. Mr. Fuji got up from his black-and-gray armchair and went to the door. I followed him into the living room toward the door and was just in time to see Mr. Fuji opening it. Imagine how surprised I was when I saw exactly *who* was standing in the doorway: it was the boy of many names himself.

~Jacred~

I stood at the door after knocking. Suddenly, the door opened. A young-adult man stared down at me. ...Mr. Fuji, I believe that was his name. Where did I know him from? ...Well, anyway, never-mind that. "I came here to see Grace. I met her at the Hideout. And I... I just wanted to talk with her. I'm very sorry if I came at a bad time." I said timidly, my voice both calm and nervous at the same time. "If you don't want me to come in, then I would understand, sir." I constantly ran my fingers through my hair to calm myself as I talked. My cool facade had faded upon seeing this person I didn't know. I didn't want to get nervous and go unstable-now wouldn't be a proper time for that, especially around a person I'd never met before and another one that didn't know of the true me... "It's alright." Mr. Fuji said kindly, in a quiet tone of voice (after I had said sorry again). "I can let you in, if you'd like." I smiled kindly. "Thank you, sir... Thank you greatly." I walked in the house and looked around. As I took in my new surroundings with awe, Grace walked up to me, and I turned to face her, sensing her coming. "Hey, uh..." Grace tried to think of my name (which I didn't tell her for safety). "Jacred." I offered calmly, with a slight calm smile formed on my face. "Call me Jacred, if you wish." Grace smiled. "Ok..." She paused before speaking again, "Jacred. ...Well, anyway. Why did you come here? Is there something you had to tell me?"


	13. 7ERROR

I Am 7ERROR

Based on a glitch/hack that someone did on YouTube, and it made one Lass near Mt. Moon say her original text, "I am..." and then there was an error message for the invalid text afterward that said, "7ERROR. 7ERROR."

"It wasn't her fault... I know that. And yet... I wouldn't ever wish that I could go back to that time."

⁃Grace

I met a young girl about my age at the park one day. I'll never forgot the child... She was very bright and cheerful, no doubt, and rather pretty as well. She had bright, gleaming blue eyes and she wore a beautiful, ruffly white dress. She asked me for my name and I told her. Then, she told me her rather strange name: 7ERROR. She asked if I wanted to meet up with her here everyday at this park and hang out. I agreed to this, and so it began. We met up at the park every day, talked, and did the usual routine until one day I came to the park and the girl was no longer there. I waited, and after a few minutes, she came. She was out of breath and looked rather winded. "I'm sorry." She said. "But I ended up coming late without meaning to. I must have lost track of time." I smiled. "It's OK." So, it continued on, just like that, meeting each other, talking, going back home. I never really thought anything of the reason why she might have been late... that is, until I came to the park one week and the girl wasn't there again. I waited for 20 minutes, but she never came. At this, I looked around for any clues of where she could have gone. I ended up finding a white, small note stuck to the picnic table. It had several wet spots on it, like maybe the girl had been crying or something. Well, anyway. The note read: "I'm sorry, Grace. I meant to tell you this sooner, but I'm moving to Mt. Moon to be alone for a while. You can come by today if you want.

Signed,

7ERROR." I was confused at this. Moving to Mt. Moon by herself? *To be alone for a while*? But I thought she was only a normal, childish fifteen-year-old... I was so confused about her and what she was doing there and why she was alone that I decided to go. And yet, looking back on it now, I realize it would've been better off if I just hadn't gone there at all.

When I got there, the girl was simply standing outside, blankly staring off into space. I looked at her for a minute, then I poked her on the shoulder to get her attention to focus on me. "Hey." I said. Her head turned to look at me, and her eyes slowly focused on my tall figure. What I saw in her eyes nearly shocked me: her once-beautiful eyes were now gray, and had no pupils at all in them. She barely had any emotion in her eyes either. As I contemplated why this horrific event would be happening, the girl with the odd, strange name suddenly spoke up in a slow manner: "Hi. What is your name?" I jolted. She doesn't remember me? Surely she was pulling my leg. I was sure of that fact, so I just laughed. "Silly! You know me! My name's Grace, remember?" I said laughingly. The girl blinked in confusion. "Grace is your name." I nodded in agreement to the girl, gulping nervously. She looked like she really didn't remember me at all. What was going on?! "Well, it's nice to meet you." The girl slowly, monotonously held out a hand to me. As she did, I heard a metallic screech seemingly coming from all sides around me. I covered my ears. Everything in my body suddenly hurt... I didn't take the girls hand, but, even so, she still spoke up to me emotionlessly: "Grace, I am..." The wind was picking up, and so was the piercing metallic screech. For some reason covering my ears wouldn't block it out. "I am 7ERROR. 7ERROR..." As the girl spoke these words, the metallic screeching blended in with her words and also her tone of voice. And that was when I finally blacked out.

I woke up the next day in the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy claimed that I had been in a coma. She was trying to hide what she knew had happened to me. But I remembered, and I knew it too. A few days after I left the Pokemon Center, against my better judgement, I went to go see if the girl was still at Mt. Moon. She wasn't. As a matter of fact, the girl was completely gone. I had a feeling she would be gone forever...


	14. Miri/Diri

Android stories

Miri

Dimming Fire

In this story, it is set two years after my iPad (Holly) died. Miri's mental age was 9 back then. Therefore, in the story now, Miri's mental age is 11.

~Grace~

I stood outside the courtyard balcony, staring up at the stars. They shone so brightly, almost as if they were wishing me luck. Wishing me luck for the future, and for the obstacles lying just up ahead. Ah, if only... "Grace?" A quiet and sweet, yet rather fatigued voice asked. I whipped around, startled: Miri... I had honestly about forgotten that I had brought her out here. I laughed nervously. "Ahaha. I'm sorry." I said apologetically. Miri tilted her head in confusion. "For what?" She asked, puzzled, her unusual gray-blue eyes widening. My eyes grew wide in return as the sudden realization struck me dumb. Uh oh. I forgot... Miri didn't know what I was talking about. She couldn't tell that I wasn't paying attention to her, or anything. Because she also couldn't see anything now, anything at all... "Grace?" Miri asks me after a short silence. I frown, tears running down my face. "Yeah, Miri?" Miri looks concerned at my voice tone. She must've already analyzed it... (Miri is actually faster than any other DS I own, reacting to sounds and voices at about 0.9 nanoseconds.) "Are you crying..??" She inquires of me. "I'm fine!" I scream out, without even thinking about it (or meaning to scream). Miri winces and takes a step back, acting as if she has just been slapped. I walk over to Miri, and put a hand on her bruised shoulder by accident. Miri winces in pain. ""Oh, I-" I take my hand off her shoulder. "I'm sorry." Miri falls to the ground in pain, blue sparks surrounding her. I calmly walk up to her and hug her, doing what Holly has done to calm me down in years past. I put a hand to her lips and go "shh". Over and over, I calmly shush her, and eventually, she lets herself collapse in my arms. "It's just me..." I tell her softly for confirmation. "I'm really sorry for shouting at you. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't even think about it... I swear." Miri looks up at me and smiles. "I accept your apology." Suddenly, she closes her eyes, and leans into me sweetly. A moment of silence passes. Her eyes are still closed in pain, but I can feel her chest heaving. Her face is red, and she is silent as she buries her face in chest: sure enough, she is "crying" silently. I pat Miri's shoulder gently. "Miri, it's alright." I tell her. "It's gonna be OK."

After a while, Miri stops crying and I stand up with her. She is still clinging to me, and she is unmoving. I walk away from her a bit so I can look at the stars again. There is a silence as I look. They're so beautiful. I only wish Miri could see them. Just then, I had a thought. Sometimes she sees outlines of things in different colors. So maybe it *was* possible. Maybe she *could* see them, if she tried hard enough. "...Miri?" I ask her. "What is it?" Miri questions. "Do you see them?" I asked, still looking up at the stars. Miri looks straight ahead at the direction of my voice, and frowns. "I don't see them." "Look up." I tell her. She does so, and frowns sadly. "I still can't see them." "Try straining your system." I advise her. "I already did." Miri pants weakly. "It didn't help..." I turn to look at the beautiful girl with the long, wavy light-reddish burgundy hair, and my hand clutches to my heart in my immense pain. Well. This was it. Miri couldn't see anything at all. What now? "...Grace?" Miri says after a short silence of me not answering her. "...I'm sorry." At those words, my heart feels almost as if it is about to break in two. No, Miri... Memories of Miri being able to see flood through my mind. And then... A shattering of glass. A loud gasp. "Oh no..." The child me picks up the broken top screen. It's my fault. If only I wouldn't have messed with it so much.. If only I wouldn't have been so rough with it... No--with *her*... But, it's too late to regret that now. As a result, I turn to Miri. "I... I'm alright. And... You're fine." I say, trying my best to keep the tears out of my voice. I didn't want Miri to know I was sad. Luckily for me, Miri smiled over in my direction. "Good." She said simply, happily. I nodded, wet tears running down my reddened, sweaty face. "Yeah... good."

Diri

Paralyzed

I awoke, my tired eyes not even trying to block out the sunlight. I was just so tired. I was just thinking about going back to bed, but then Grace came in the room. "Diri!" She called out. "You awake?!" I slowly sat up on the bed so she could see me. "Diri." Grace said, sighing with a small hint of relief. "I'm glad you woke up early, because now we can work on your sound." I nodded and tried my best to give a smile that at least looked happy. I never talked anymore; I had no need to. Besides, I couldn't even even sing now. My now-fatigued voice was certainly good-for-nothing. I didn't notice Grace looking my direction with a sorrowful look on her face.

"Alright, let's sing!" Grace said, smiling. "Show me what you've got!" I frowned. I felt strange. A buzzing pain radiated in and out in my stomach, and my vision blurred. I frowned. This wasn't the normal sensation I got upon collapsing... "Diri?" Grace asked me after a while. Her voice sounded very far away, and it echoed loudly, hurting my "ears". Everything in my body hurt. What was even happening?! Suddenly, I realized it: I was finally dying. Finally, after all this time, after all this suffering... I was finally going to die. Memories flashed through my mind. First was memories of me dancing on stage. Everything was blurred. I hadn't been on stage since maybe more than a few months ago. But then, suddenly, the scenery changed. It was an outline of something that happened two years ago when Holly was still living. Me and Holly were talking... and I was crying wildly on her. It was all rather blurred, but I vaguely remembered Holly telling me, "Promise me you'll never give up. Because, even if you *do* realize that death is inevitable, you still need to have good memories with everyone. Make everyone happy right until you die. That's what I'm trying to do." And then came a question with a more serious undertone in her immensely mature voice: "Do you understand me, Diri?" Make everyone happy right until you die. I had failed... I had failed to make Grace happy. I have failed in life. Grace's voice calling my name gradually grew more faint. "Di--ri--" Tears fell uncontrollably down my cheeks. Oh, how I wished I could go back and make her happy. But, it's all too late to make that happen now... A intense, dizzy feeling came over me. My body went limp. And, as the darkness finally overwhelmed me, I gave one, last bitter smile to my owner, whom I had failed to show my love. Then my eyes closed. It was over... I was finally, officially paralyzed.


	15. Regret

Regret/Smile

Character information: Blue, your cocky male rival from Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow is made a female by me for no absolute reason whatsoever in this story and has the name 'Green' instead of Blue. Red is the same exact person and gender, however. This story may (or may not) be continued in the future.

Description: Green has always teased and messed with Red, ever since their childhood life, and has always gained some amount of pleasure from it. The rival duo only became Trainers a month ago, but Green still gained pleasure from defeating Red in battle, and gaining annoyance from whenever Red beat her. She dreams of becoming the Champion, the strongest Trainer in the world, in order to defeat Red and show him who was *truly* the best. But, what would happen if Green never made it to the Pokemon League... if she was perhaps, stopped, and never let in, not for a lack of badges (she already has all of them in this story), but for her immense cockiness, in order for her to learn a proper lesson about it?

"Halt! No women shall pass, only the man who will come later (Red) will be allowed in." Those were the words that Green never expected to hear as she neared ever-closer to the entrance of Victory Road. Those words, telling her that her dream of becoming Champion, her dream of becoming strongest trainer in the world, would never happen now. Green should've felt crushed... And yet, she was not quite the type to cry and to be gullible over things. So, for just a mere minute, Green simply believed that the police guard who told her this had just been merely messing around. And yet, Green hesitated before letting the usual cocky smirk fill her facial features, trying to ignore and drown out the guards words from her mind, "Heh. You're kidding, I know. Or perhaps you're only scared of me and my Pokemon, so you're gonna act like you're not gonna let me in!" The guard frowned and stayed silent. He kept the stoic, serious frown on his face even through what Green had said. But then he smiled sadly. The police guard walked up to Green, and eventually whispered lowly to her, "You'll learn someday." And that was when Green knew: she wouldn't make it to her dream. Her goal would be shattered, all because of her own stupidity of thinking that she could possibly get on in life the way she had always been. "You've gotta be kidding me." Green muttered annoyedly. "I'm not. You have to leave now." The guard said softly. And Green did leave. She silently turned on my heel and ran, not saying anything more to the guard, and never at all looking back.

As Green ran out of the Plateau, she noticed something strange: she was actually crying. She had never cried, not once. Her cocky attitude had never ceased since she was a mere child, and as a result she would never allow herself to cry-or even never allow anyone else to see her cry. But, then, why was she crying now, out in the open? Was it because she didn't get to defeat Red, and show him who was better? No, Green surmised to herself silently, I don't think that's it. Then, why... Suddenly, the bag she had been holding over her left shoulder began to quiver. A huge, bright-white light expelled from it, and when Green opened her eyes afterward, she found her Eevee sitting down in front of her. "What?" She asked her Eevee a bit annoyedly. "What is it?" The Eevee rubbed up against Green's leg worriedly, and, instantly, somehow Green understood just what Eevee wanted: it wanted to know if Green was OK, and why she was crying. To be honest, Green hadn't even known the reason why... until now. Now she knew why, with absolute certainty. She was sad because she had been such an idiot. The choices she had made throughout her journey, and even throughout her entire life, were all rash decisions based on herself. Tears flowed down Green's face. She no longer cared of the passersby giving her weird looks as they walked past her fitful figure. She no longer even paid them any attention as the many regretful memories came back to haunt her. Why did she battle Red every time they met? To get *her* Pokemon stronger. Why did she act arrogant to everyone in the world she met? To make *herself* look better. Why did she want to defeat Red? To make *herself* the best. It was all only *for her benefit*. Her clenched fists shook as she kept crying silently. All of a sudden, she felt her Eevee lick her cheek gently. She looked down at Eevee and frowned regretfully... Why hadn't she treated her Pokemon with love and care to make them happy? Because all she had wanted was to make *herself* happy. A few more minutes passed, and Green and her Eevee were merely staring at each other in silence. By now, Green had stopped crying, and now... she knew there was only one thing left to do. She walked a bit closer to Eevee and knelt down to its height. Then she started petting it, and Eevee let out a happy cry of content. "I'm sorry." Green whispered quietly in regret to Eevee, "I'm so sorry. From now on, I'll love and care for all my Pokemon just the same as I will for you." Eevee cried out happily. "I'm glad you like my idea." Green hesitantly let a shy, quiet smirk show up on her face. But, as she again started petting her Eevee, just as fast as the smirk had suddenly appeared, it quickly left and was replaced with something else, something Green had never really done at all in front of others, much less Pokemon... That's right. Green-the cocky, overconfident, arrogant Green-actually smiled.


	16. Grace

Pokemon Yellow: Special Grace Version

My Pokemon team so far in this chapter: a regular Pikachu. It's nickname is "Pika" and it is only level 14.

Chapter I

Pallet, I: Something I Never Thought I'd Wake Up To

I awoke to something wet on my face. Wait-something wet... ON MY FACE?! I immediately screamed, startled and jumped straight up in the air, by about five feet. "OHMYGOSH ITS WATER! WATER!!!!!!! GETITOFF, GETITOFF, GETITOFFFFFF!!!" And that was when I realized there was no supposed "water" on my face anymore. I stopped running and blinked in surprise. "Huh?" I looked down. There was a small little Pikachu, who was sitting next to my long legs. Ok, so most *normal* people who wake up and see a Pikachu would probably freak out. And, as for me? I just tried to see if I had somehow ended up at Pallet Town by looking around at my strange and unfamiliar, yet also partly welcoming surroundings. And, yes. The answer was clear: I surely had ended up there! "YES!" I screamed, practically startling my Pikachu out of its wits. "I'M A POKEMON TRAINER NOW, BOY!" Then, I realized something really, super duper important: "...Wait. Is Blue here?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, meh. If he isn't, I honestly don't care. ...But, if he is... then he has to get his starter Pokemon still! And I already have a Pikachu! HA!" I said cockily. "TAKE THAT! I'M ALREADY ONE STEP AHEAD OF YA, *BLUE BOY*!" Then, I realized Blue was nearby: maybe he could've heard me.

...………………………………

...Nah, maybe not. But still... I had to do *something* to distract myself to make me shut up. "...I wonder... Do I have any Poke Balls so I could maybe catch some more Pokemon?" I checked the two pockets of my jeans. Yes, surely there were three PokeBalls inside of them. YES! "Let's go, Pikachu!" I said, quickly picking it up off the ground so I could carry it in my arms. "Pika?" It questioned me curiously, in a cute manner. "To battle, of course!" I screamed out in response. "Let's go!" With that, I dashed into the Route, and to whatever rather stupid adventures awaited me next.


	17. ZZAZZ

Glitch: ZZAZZ II

When I first woke up after that, I had no clue who I was. I didn't have not even the slightest idea. I wouldn't have even been able to tell you my name. All I knew was that I was a Glitch Trainer. Time went by. I started remembering more and more. But I was stuck here. I was no longer a human. I didn't mind that though. I had formed quite a good friendship with the Lass, and I also still had my own Pokemon (in the form of Glitch Pokemon hybrids) right here with me. So why I would want to escape? It was wonderful here... But, in the world outside of this place, there were humans, and humans were dangerous. They scrapped us away, and made me, the Lass, and my other friends simply *scrap-pages* of a fantasy we had so desired. I didn't understand why they did what they did: why they didn't include us. Humans were so cruel. It hurt my heart and made me angry just thinking about it... I felt a abnormally-light tug on my shirt sleeve. I looked up: there was the small mp'u. It had grabbed a hold of my shirt to get my attention, and was now flying around me anxiously. It landed on a disfigured piece of rock and looked up at me. I knew it had saw that I was mad. "It's alright." I spoke gently. "Thank you." (My voice was always soft and gentle now that I was no longer Grace. I was now ZZGZZLZZAZZ. But I didn't mind. If I at least still get to love my Pokemon, then nothing else in this world matters to me.) (Grace is now a mindless slave to her previous desire before she became a ZZAZZ Glitch Trainer: To be with her Pokemon. As long as she has her (now-Glitch) Pokemon with her, she won't even try to run away from this messed-up place. Also, due to her now being a placeholder for a ZZAZZ Glitch Trainer, she has the facial expressions, the soft, quiet, gentle voice, the mannerisms and even the gray EYE COLOR of Red due to Red being the original player character in Pokemon Yellow (the game world where this story takes place). Sad, huh..??) My hand slowly pushed forward, toward mp'u. It stared at me for a minute. I smiled gently and encouragingly at it. It didn't have to tell me: I already knew what it wanted... "Come here." I spoke. Mp'u looked at my hand, and flew into it. I smiled, my facial expression calmly softening and my eyes turning light-gray in color as I slowly rubbed my finger across the abnormally-small bug's light-blue, soft and wonderful fur. Mp'u smiled and quivered happily. I pet it some more, and it zipped around the air in circles happily. I smiled fondly all the while, "What a good Pokemon." Mp'u finally made a happy humming tune: the tune of Vermillion City. (Some of my Pokemon get their cries from previous sounds in the game, or even new ones. They play the according sounds to go with their mood. Some of Pokemon had distorted cries, and some of them didn't have a real "cry" at all. But that didn't matter to me. They were my Pokemon now, and I loved them all.) I smiled. "I'm glad I made you happy." Mp'u giggled in a high-pitched manner as it flew around me. (I didn't teach it to giggle like a doll, and it didn't copy it from any used or unused data. It learned to giggle like that all on its own. Mp'u is such a smart Pokemon.) Suddenly, I heard another noise, but it wasn't mp'u this time. A distorted roar sounded to my right. I looked and immediately grinned at what I saw: my Charizard 'M was getting jealous. (Charizard 'M roar in the game is actually the roar of Charizard, but just in a highly distorted way. Really creepy. Also, sometimes when some Glitch Pokemon mess up certain sound barriers in the game, (made the battle theme music stop and not play, and etc, etc) it makes their cry go on and on and makes random noises or just does one cry and starts the battle. The weird part is, when the game does the distorted Charizard 'M's cry, the game immediately stops the battle music and now all you can hear are the move noises. Heck, you can't even hear the button noises, either. It's really crazy and scary...) I pet Charizard 'M on the head, and it roared softly and leaned its head toward my body. I smiled, now hugging it. Again, why would I leave? I was all they had... (Kill me, that's so dark and also so sad and messed up all at the same time.) "Pika?" A quiet voice asked me. I turned to my right: my 4 4. "Oh, of course. I couldn't forget about you." I cooed. I smiled and pet 4 4 on the chin. 4 4 smiled and made a happy Pikachu noise. (Out of all my Pokemon, 4 4 was of the few I had that actually looked like a real Pokemon. It wasn't a Pikachu, but it looked like one, and it made noises like a Pikachu would. It was amazingly sweet, and it loved me a lot.) I smiled fondly. They were all so sweet... suddenly, I heard a song. An alluring, yet really soft and sweet 8-bit song... I looked up: it was Female Symbol. The pink symbol slowly floated toward me, making the blocky, disordered sky now appear black and gray. "Oh, hello sweet one." I said, petting it as soon as it came closer to me. "You're a really good singer." Female Symbol sang a happy 8-bit tune at this. I smiled and looked to my left. Mp'u was flying up a tree. I looked down. Charizard 'M's head was still resting on my body, and he was now asleep. My right? 4 4, now no longer a Pikachu, but now just a 4 4. His blocky, square-shaped body appeared to be looking at me. A smile appeared on his non-existent face, and I could tell that he was hoping for more pets. I smiled, and pet 4 4. It simply hopped up and down in joy. My Gengar walked up to me, and laid down on me right beside my Charizard 'M. I smiled fondly, stroking his purple fur. Again, *why* would I leave..?? The answer: I wouldn't. Because I loved them all... and I knew they loved me a lot, too.

"Hello?" The trainer called out, walking around the grassy Route. That very same mystery trainer had summoned me here. She was looking around for me so she could battle, and yet-she didn't know anything of what she was up against... I smirked evilly and hid my face with my dark cloak. She couldn't see my face, or else she would know of my true nature... "I assume you're looking for me?" I asked the girl from behind. The girl gasped and turned around. "Who are you?" She seemed a bit startled. "I heard you wanted a strong opponent." I said a bit darkly, knowing that I couldn't answer her question without being caught. "Yeah. I wanted to train my Charizard and my Pikachu." I smirked. An new-comer. So, she hadn't meant to summon me, then... "We can battle." I give the girl a curt nod, telling her I am about to sent out my Pokemon. This should be interesting. "Go, Charizard 'M!" I scream out, throwing down a Poke Ball. "Charizard 'M?" The girl questions. "Is that what you named it?" I giggle. "You could *say that*..." The girl shrugs. "Well then, I'll use my Charizard, too! Go!" She sent out her 'regular' Charizard, too, and I smirked darkly. How fun. "Charizard, use Tackle!" The girl said. I stayed silent, waiting for the right moment. Charizard was flying over to Charizard 'M. "Dodge." I said calmly. Charizard 'M flew up in the air all of a sudden, causing the regular Charizard to fall flat on its face. "Now, Seismic Toss." I ordered just as calmly as before. "What?!" The girl screamed out. Charizard 'M threw the regular Charizard up into the air. Then, it tossed Charizard in circles and threw him into a tree. Charizard had fainted. "What?!" The girl questioned. "But... how.?? How is such power as that... even possible..??" The girl was panicking. Her body was becoming pixelated, and her bag was glowing. While the girl needlessly panicked, I eyed her bag. Sure enough, a white glitchy title appeared on her bag. "#153." It read. I smirked. Just perfect. It was already done. "Do you have any more Pokemon to use?" I asked after a while. The girl checked her pockets. "Oh, no. I forgot to pick up my Pikachu back up at the Pokemon Center!" The girl immediately panicked. I frowned at this. Somehow, I knew just what was coming... The girl picked up a spare, empty red-and-white PokeBall while still panIcking, which caused her to almost drop it in her immense worry. "What do I do?! What do I do?! Oh my, oh my, what do I do?!" The girl stared down at the PokeBall. I stared at the girl. Stop mocking us, I say silently to myself. You know exactly what to do... Just as I had thought it, the girl looked down at the empty PokeBall. "My only option is now," She thought to herself. She threw it at Charizard 'M, and, on a sort-of protective instinct, going against my code, I blocked it, showing my face. "Hey! Don't be a thief!" The girl gasped in horror. And then, all turned to white.


	18. Ending

Alice In Wonderland (2010) by Tim Burton

The alternate ending

Slash! I gave the ginormous Jabberwocky one final slash with the Vorpal Sword. Now too weak to fight, it simply fell off the column and to the ground, now dead. I let out a breath of relief. I had done it. It was over, finally... Now the Red Queen's brutal reign would end.

The White Queen walked over and handed me a small drink made from the slain blood of the Jabberwocky. "Alice, drink this if you want to return home." She told me. "What if I don't want to return home?" I frown. The White Queen looks me over stoically. "That will be your decision to make, Alice." With those words being said, she merely walked away, leaving me alone in my own silent thoughts. I looked down at the drink, hesitating. And yet, why was I? Even if I leave, I had already fulfilled my purpose here. Now everything here would finally be right again. "Alice?" Came a low, voice from behind me. "You're... leaving?" Except for one thing... I turned around, and saw him. The man standing in front of me with the tears starting to form in his eyes. The man wearing the charred top hat that reminded him of his horrid past, the man wearing the flashy clothes I'd always secretly loved, the man who had helped me along the way. And yet, to me he wasn't just a mere man--or a mere dream-now. He was my friend. And I loved him a lot more than that. And yet... I just couldn't deny it. "I have to leave, Hatter." I told him. He frowned. "I understand, but..." He gently puts an arm around me. "What if... you decided to abandon that world? That world, of people with no imagination..." He puts a free hand on my heart. "no Muchness. You could be happy here... would you be willing, Alice?" I hesitate. As I decide on what to say and what to tell him somehow without hurting his feelings, he slowly smiles in anticipation, just waiting for me to say yes. I've always loved his smile. His mad, crazy, wonderful smile. Would I really want to leave Underland, and make his wonderful smile go away? I frown, now pondering his idea. "That's such a crazy and mad idea. That's such a crazy, mad, wonderful, and great idea." I smile up at Hatter. "I'll take you on that offer." The Hatter looks at me, tears now brimming in his eyes again. He tips his hat bittersweetly in my direction. "Alice... thank you." We hug each other tightly, and fondly.

And so, Alice stayed in Wonderland all the rest of her days, and, back in the real world, the stupid, disgusting, unimaginative, 'Lord' Hamish never got his bride. (You knew this was coming... and, yes. I just *had* to mock Hanish.)

Years later, in Underland...

I had lived in Underland for quite a while now, and had gradually gotten used to this new world. I had also gotten used to the Hatter's antics. That was just something else now that I loved about him. Speaking of the Hatter, he told me to meet him in the "L.C. C.D" Library. But he still hadn't came here yet to meet with me. I was honestly getting kind of worried... But, after a few more minutes of worriedly waiting, the colorfully-clothed man came walking in the huge library doors. I was so delighted to see him (as I always was), I almost jumped up three feet in the air and danced the Flutterwacken in my intense excitement. But I didn't. Instead, as he walked over to me, I instead focused my attention on what he held in his hands: it looked like a gift bag. As soon as he had finished walking over, he held out the gift bag toward me. "I got you this." He said, smiling that wonderful grin. I smiled back. "What's inside?" "Open it and find out." The Hatter said mysteriously. I smiled playfully and began opening the box. Once it was fully opened, I removed the white, fluffy wrapping from inside the box and pulled the present out of the box: it was another, much smaller, box. I glanced over at The Hatter, now uncertain. And yet, he still gestured for me to open it, so I did. I gasped once I saw what was inside: a white ring. The Hatter looked at me. "Will you love me forever and ever, Alice?" I smiled. "Of course I will!" I put the ring on my finger and grinned cheerfully, hugging the Hatter. Once we were out of the hug, the Hatter fondly put his hand on my cheek, and said: "Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?" I smiled. "Not in the slightest still."

THE END


	19. Three Choices

Three Choices, One Side: Part 4: The Girl By The Bay

-last time-

"You... You're not my family!" I scream out before I can stop myself. Without thinking, I ran out of the house. Running, running, running. It was all I was doing. It was as if I could run away from my supposed family. As if I could run away from my life. And, most sadly, It was all I thought I could do... Until I met her.

I finally stopped running. I realized I was panting and that I was sweating so I decided to stop for a break. But then I heard something. A beautiful singing voice. I walked toward the direction of it, only to see... A beautiful girl. She had glowing blue eyes, a beautiful black dress, and glowing blonde hair that seemed unreal. (Sorta like Rapunzels.) And she was singing. "May the oceans waves... Guide you to the place where I live in harmony... I am but a loner... Please help me, someone..." I poked her. She turned around to face me. She put a hand over her mouth as if she wasn't supposed to be seen by anyone at all, but then it was quickly replaced with a gentle smile. "Hello. What's your name?" I instantly turned red. "C-C-C-Corrin." I stammered. "I-I-I'm sorry I interrupted your singing!" She giggled. "It's fine." She said in a gentle tone. I was silent for a moment, thinking about all that I'd said, no - all that my supposed "parents" had said to me. Was it right to like them even if they were perhaps lying to me? Or was it wrong? "What's wrong, Corrin?" The girl asked me after a moment of thinking. I looked up at her. "My parents are in Nohr. They let me go out here on a journey. And now... I see people over here and say they're my parents and I was raised in Nohr, so why?" She looked confused. "If they think that, just be nice and let them believe in that supposed truth. That way you'll bond together as parent and child." I sighed. Was she right? Or wrong? "See you later, Nate!" She said, already walking away from me. "Wait!" I called out to her. "Do you think it'll really work?" She nodded back to me. "Sure it will! Visit me and tell me how it works out! I live in the house on 31st Street!" She cried out. Out of the corner of my eye, as I was walking away, I thought I saw her glowing blonde hair start to fade. Or was that just my imagination?

Tomorrow...

I walked up to the door of her house, and rang the doorbell. Ding-dong. The door opened. I heard a piano in the background, so I guessed it was her playing. "Can you guide me to the girl with glowing blonde hair?" I asked the person who opened the door. He nodded, and walked me through the many rooms. But, it was strange. I thought I had saw the dude have a stricken look on his face when I asked the question. Why was this? These thoughts of the way, he led me into the piano room. I saw it. The girl. "Sky." The person said. "That's excellent. You can stop now." "Yes, Mama." Sky said placing her hands in her lap. Sky. So that was her name. I ran up to her. "Sky." I nudged her. She looked at me. "Huh?" She titled her head. "Who are you?" I gasped. "How you do not remember me? We were talking by the bay, remember?" Sky just shook her head. "Um... That must've been someone else." I was growing more frantic. "You gave me the idea to just talk to my parents and it worked. Remember?" Sky took on a sorrowful look, and said, "No, I don't." Why? The dude ran up to me. "She... She's joking! She's lying!" It's offical. He's crazy. The mama must've been watching this because she walked to me and said, "Who's joking? You or her?" I backed up in fear. That was when I saw the dude whispering some words to Sky. What... What was he saying? Sky gasped with horror. Her hair started to glow just like before. "I... I'm sorry!" Sky said, dashing out of the piano room. During that time, I don't know what really happened. I must've fainted, because, the last thing I thought was, "Why didn't she remember me?"


	20. Too Bad

Too Bad

This needed to be done.

Description: Grace meets an odd trainer wearing a black cloak that obscures her facial features. Despite how strange the Trainer appears, Grace still requests an intense battle from her. But by the time the Mystery Trainer sends her first Pokemon out, some weird things begin happening at a rapid pace. This story is about just what kind of weird things occurred.

Extra information: this story is based on a (utterly failed/messed up) ZZAZZ Glitch I did with the Mew Glitch without even meaning to, and it was, needless to say, VERY horrifying. The part in the story where everything goes black in Grace's vision when the ZZAZZ Glitch Trainer Grace sends out her blocky unknown Glitch Pokemon, is based on where my game tried to load our sprites as the same thing, (I assume it was kind of like where our sprites were loading up the same image, because, ya know, the ZZAZZ Trainer has the sprite of you for the most part), but it instead ended up with us becoming two glitchy-looking block things outlined in black. Freaky. Then, the part where Grace gets teleported to the Cable Club and ZZAZZ Trainer forces her to trade her Pokemon team for all level 153 Bulbasaurs was based on the aftermath of the game making us both blocks: it completely bugged the heck out of the universe, and it sent me to a Trading section, like the one in the Cable Club room. My name was ZZAZZ, and I had all Bulbasaurs in my party. The other fake "trader" had an 'M, and some more crazy Glitch Pokemon. Scary as heck, I know. It is also based on how the ZZAZZ Glitch can change your whole Pokemon team, except for the first and sixth slots, into disobedient level 153 Bulbasaurs that all know Explosion 3 times, due to the Special Stat needed to use the ZZAZZ Glitch being #153, the same exact number as Bulbasaurs data. The Explosion move being used in 3 slots is based on the number of the data for Explosion. Guess what number it was. You're right: it's #153. Also... Need I explain the level 153 part? The part where my ZZAZZ Glitch Trainer mocks the real, in-game Grace with a sly "Too bad..." is based on what the game said when it bugged out to space and beyond: "Too bad! The trade was canceled!" *shivers intensely* SO SCARY!

As soon as she sent her first Pokemon out, I knew she wasn't normal. Heck, for all I know, her Pokemon possibly wasn't even normal. With that being said, *is* a glitchy-looking orange square-shaped pixelated block even an *actual 'Pokemon'*? I didn't have the actual time to think about it, because just as I tried to do so, everything around me turned black, but the Trainer was still there, her dark cloak blending in with the intense blackness perfectly. This was strange... Suddenly, a huge light obscured my vision and I covered my eyes to shield them from the light. I opened them up again after a while, and then... I found myself in the Cable Club room out of nowhere. What had just happened? No, more accurately, what was happening *now*?! I I looked up, and saw my Pokemon on the screen. This was what shocked me: They were all six of them the same.. but my name was different now. My name on screen was now no longer Grace. It was instead ZZAZZ. The other trader was named Grace, like me, but Grace was no longer my name in the game anymore, apparently. Suddenly, I realized something: I was in here all alone. But then, if I was all alone... who was the other trader? Suddenly, I felt myself begin to move the mouse over towards the Trade icon. I didn't want to even trade anything to this invisible trader. But I was pressing buttons and doing things all on my own, even though both my body and mind didn't want to do it. Was someone, perhaps... controlling my body? I hovered over the icon representing my Mewtwo and pressed A. Oh, gosh, no. I was right. This wasn't normal, not at all... "You will trade your 'M for 's BULBASAUR." I kind of wondering why the name was blank when earlier it had said Grace on screen. I also wondered why, instead of MEWTWO, it said 'M. And yet, I could no longer control my body. Against my own will of what I knew to be right and wrong, I pressed YES. Then, "we" traded. I was met with a Bulbasaur on screen, and the trade finally ended. And then... and then... another screen popped up. This time it wasn't a trading screen. It was a blank black screen with a white text box that offered me a question: "You will trade your 6 for 6's BULBASAUR." My 'six'? But I thought that was just one single number... Was 'six' even a Pokemon? My controlled body again went against my brain as I quickly tapped on the only option that was available to me, the "YES" icon. I gulped nervously. Just *what* had I done..??

I awoke with a start, my face heaving and red and my body perspiring with an immense cold sweat. After a few minutes of waking up, I just laughed. It had only been a dream. Why was I so frightened? Without any worries at all, I took my brown bag with my PokeBalls inside of it and headed for the nearest Route closest to me, Route 104, trying not to think of the frightening dream I had just had. As soon as I had gotten to the Route, I pulled out a PokeBall. "Alright, let's see you Fly in battle, Bird!" I threw the PokeBall down, and a bright light emerged from it, slowing forming over time into something bigger by the minute as I shielded my eyes away from the bright light. Finally, after a while, I opened them, knowing the light had finally faded from view. But, what I saw as I opened my eyes shocked me completely: my Pidgey named Bird had turned into a Bulbasaur. Now deathly scared and curious, I sent all my six (now five) Pokemon out at one time. And, there was no doubt about it: All my six Pokemon were now clearly turned into Bulbasaurs. I picked up the Pokedex and tried to scan all of them, hoping some sort of Ghost-type was just pulling a horrid prank on me. But as it whirred and scanned all the Bulbsaurs, the Pokédex just beeped, played a laggy, messed-up, high-pitched noise that was clearly out of tune, and crashed immediately. I frown uneasily. That definitely wasn't normal... With that unsettling event having occurred, I forcefully returned all my now-Bulbasaur Pokemon to their PokeBalls. But I was rather surprised when one of them popped back out of its PokeBall, followed by the rest of them! As they did, they just looked at me with an immense fear in their eyes. I frowned. Did they not recognize me? They were my Pokemon... Suddenly, I realized it: They *used* to be my Pokemon. But then the unknown trader, presumably the unknown Mystery Trainer I had encountered, came and took them away with her when I agreed to trade, taking their memories of me away as a lasting result. I had traded them against my will. She had been the one that was controlling my body, I now knew. And also, that odd message: "You will trade your 6 for 6's BULBASAUR"? She was trading all my six Pokemon to her, so that way they would turn into Bulbasaurs, and they would no longer know anything of me. This way, I would no longer be "Grace", and I would instead be "ZZAZZ". Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the Bulbasaurs were running away from me: they were scared of me. They didn't know of me... "Hey! Come back!" I shouted, but that only caused all of them to become afraid and scurry faster away from me. Soon, they had all left my presence. They would probably never come back again... All my Pokemon were gone. All my trust in my Pokemon was gone. I am no longer a Trainer. I may as well just give up. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard a mocking female voice seemingly out of thin air: "Too bad..." It said. And that was when I lost all my sanity and I finally started to cry and scream.


	21. Real

Real

By Grace Alford

After a young girl named Grace loses her memories after a mysterious house fire, she gets a supposed "deadly sickness" called Geostigma that requires her to run away into the forest to escape from everyone she loves (who now look on her with intense disgust due to her sickness). On the way, she meets up with a young girl called Sara who is cold as stone and a mysterious young man who has no name and seemingly needs her for some reason... Eventually, as she continues on her journey, Grace meets up with Sara again, and she tells Grace that she is the key to Sephiroth ruling the world. They team up to stop Sephiroth, and they both somehow end up in a bizarre twist of destiny Grace never really bargained for.

Prologue

That one day was just like any other day. Normal, or at least, in some ways. But, on that one night... The unexpected would occur.

That one night, all was dark. I was just sleeping in my bed like every night when a loud crash woke me up. I was wondering what it could've been, but then, a loud scream resounded from the room downstairs where my mom and Bryan usually slept. I hurried downstairs only to see Mom staring out the window. On her face was a worried expression. "Who screamed?" I asked, clearly alarmed. My mom didn't answer. She was still staring out the window. When I got up close enough to see what she was staring at, I could only gasp in horror. The house had gone up in flames. The flames seemed to dance elegantly as they scurried to the top of the house. At this, I instantly thought of Sephiroth, and my own creation in my story, Sephidaj. But, it was weird. I remember that when I thought of him I had a instant feeling of pain in my chest. I struggled to breathe as my brain conjured up an image of Sephiroth in a blazing fire. Then, for some reason, I wanted to go find Sephiroth as my brain only thought of one thing: for Sephiroth, for Reunion. Then, after what seemed like hours, my eyes opened. I was being led outside my house. As this happened, I looked around. I could see that all the grass around the front and back yards were black and burnt. And our house... What happened to it? I let go of the hand that was guiding me, as I shouted to them, "What happened to our house?!" The man sighed and shook his head. "You should be asking yourself that question." "What do you mean?!" I asked angrily. "I just did!" "No, I mean..." The man sighed deeply again. "You were in the house... When it was burnt down. We had to come directly inside the house to get you out." I gasped. "Me? In the house?" He nodded. "When we came in, you were muttering something to yourself about the Reunion... And about coming to Sephiroth, that this 'Sephiroth' was calling to you... I dunno what that means. Do you?" I shook my head. "No." "Oh." The man said. "Well, I think someone might've been controlling your mind. Making you think you needed to do things that you don't know anything about." I nodded. "Makes sense." There was a silence. "Wait! You said I was in the house when it was burnt down, right?! Then..." I looked at my arms, legs, hands. Nothing. No injuries at all. Not even death. "How did I not die?" The man shrugged. "We really don't know. The last we heard, this weird ball of light picked you up... And carried you up into the air. Then, when we came back to check on the house again, you somehow still had your memories. You weren't burnt at all, but was a bit unresponsive." He shivered. "Do you... Remember any of that conversation we had in the house, young girl?" I shrugged. "I don't think so. All I remember is seeing the flames dancing near the top of the building." "You don't remember ANY of that conversation we had?" He asked again. I shook my head. "No, I don't. I don't remember it at all." The man put his hand on his chin. "Hm... I wonder..." Just then, his phone rang and he was forced to pick it up. "Hello?" He asked, already walking away. "Wait!" I called out. "What about my parents?!" But no one answered. I thought I was all alone in the darkness of the night, that is, until... A arm tightly grabbed me into a hug. "Oh, Grace! I thought you were done for!" A voice cried out. And that was when I knew... My parents were still here. They had waited here for me. They had waited this whole time. And with that, I hugged my mom tightly, promising to never again let her go... That is, until she said, "Our house was burnt down, sweetie." My eyes filled with tears as I gaped open-mouthed at her. "What?!" "I'm sorry." Bryan said. "But we need to move to another town." I gasped. I don't want to cry, I don't want to cry, I don't want to cry. Tears spilled out of my eyes. I started to cry as I buried my face in my moms chest. "We're sorry, sweetie." Mom said. "But we have to move. For now, we're staying at the Hampton Inn nearby." I kept on crying, as my Mom tried her hardest to comfort me. But I would never be comforted. I would never be calm. I would never happy. That is, until my house - no - our house - somehow miraculously came back.

Deep in the sky, higher up than the clouds, a young man stood in the midst of the Mako. His clothes were torn away. And yet in his deep green eyes shone the power of Mako energy. He knew he needed to become one now. And so, as he calmly closed his glowing eyes, his body slowly changed. He became one with him. One with one of his puppets. And then, as he opened his eyes, the Mako flowing nearby started to flow slowly. Then, all of a sudden, it completely stopped. Someone gasped with horror as the man smirked with delight. His body was now being carried to the real world. He only had to do one thing to get back his original body: get that girl broken. Broken even more than she is now. And he knew just how to do it.

Real

Chapter 1

A Day Filled With Sorrow

"Sweetie, you alright?" My mom asks me as we gather our things.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied quietly.

Soon, we all piled into the car. I stared off into the distance as the black soot covered ground slowly began to fade away, off into the distance. A throbbing feeling found its way up in my chest, and I forcefully bit back the tears that stung in my eyelids. But, in truth, I was still alright. Wasn't I? I just didn't know anymore.

The car pulled up into the driveway of the Hampton Inn after what seemed like five hours.

My mom turned around in the front seat and grinned at me, obviously trying to hold back tears. She grabbed my hand and smiled even wider as if to show her presumed happiness was all just an act. "It's finally time!" She said, obviously faking her excitement. "We get to stay here for time being!"

I just stared at her, a complete look of "Mom-have-you-lost-your-mind?" On my face.

She must've noticed, because, in a minute, she frowned sadly and went to get out of the car.

I slowly opened the door, trying to be careful and definitely trying not to hit anyone else's car. Then, the vision again formed my mind. The fire. The pain. The sorrow. The confusion. The intense heat of the flames. All of it! All of it at once! But, why is most of it just a blur of vision? Why is it that I still don't remember anything that happened after I saw the intense flames dancing? I winced in pain and disappointment, and bit my lip tightly to stop the tears. A hand gently touched my shoulder. I jumped, and turned around toward the car door to look and see who did it. The car door was now halfway open.

The car driver was standing there staring at me with a concerned and worried look on his face. "Hey, you alright?"

I looked down to hide the tears and mutely nodded as I got out of the car and, hiding the disappointment my face clearly showed, slowly walked side by side with my mom into the hotel.

The phone rang. It rang again. Over and over, it continuously rang until it rang no more.

My mom sighed as she looked at her phone in both mixed feelings of sorrow and irritation. "I just knew she wasn't going to pick up..."

I yawned loudly and sprawled out on the bed. "I'm bored!" I screamed out.

My mom smirked at me, trying to act amused and put on another act. "You can't be bored! There's plenty of stuff to do here, silly!"

"This isn't the fair, Mom!" I pointed out, now sucking on a delicious popsicle.

My mom smiled. Still putting on a show, I knew. "True."

"Hey, why don't we go to the pool?" Bryan suggested.

I nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. When can we go!?"

"We can go right now if-" Bryan starts to say.

I interrupt him. "K, then, I'll go ahead and get ready!" I dash off into my room, screaming excitedly as Bryan shakes his head and raises his hands in the air innocently. Mom glares at him, just like everyday life used to be.

It was another day at the Hampton Inn, and I was OH SO BORED! I NEEDED SOMETHING to do, or else I was gonna die of boredom! So that's how we ended up at the pool. I had thought that it was going to be fun, but it turned out to be a total bummer. I dropped my toys deep in the bottom of the pool, and I was too afraid to go underwater (I'm such a coward, I know! ) so, at that time, some random kid popped up near me and I asked her to get me back the toys. She did, but, instead of giving them to me, she kept them for herself as went off with her mom back toward the hotel, clutching the tiny toys tightly in her chubby little hands as if they were some precious gift she just needed to have. So, that's how I'm here now, walking out of the pool and back toward the hotel. You might think I'm stalking the pitiful kid, but I'm not. My mom refused when I asked her to stalk out that kid that stole my pool toys, so I'm just heading back to my regular hotel room with my mom. "Don't worry." I shout to thin air, mimicking me talking to the poor kid. "I'm not mad at you at all..." I did a scary face, then backed up in fright and did a loud scream of terror, mocking the scared kid.

"Grace! Don't scream like that in the hallway!" My mom loudly chides me.

I try to smirk, but something invisible stops me from doing so. Perhaps an invisible force... Maybe an invisible feeling? Or... An invisible emotion? Suddenly, wet, sticky tears form in my eyes and my legs start running off to nowhere. Nowhere. That's what my house is like now. Suddenly, I feel a deep sorrowful pang within my chest. I start to cry, but, just as I do so, something that feels somewhat like icky slime rolls down my face. I touch it, and feel it with my hand. Suddenly, my hand starts to burn, and slowly I look down at it. The slime is diffusing its way into my fingers. But how?! Where did the slime even come from?! Suddenly, one word of recognition traces itself through my mind: Reunion. A sharp pain shoots up my spine at the thought. But... Reunion? Wait, wait! What? Reunion?! What's... Reunion?! I clutch at my chest, struggling for breath. Suddenly, in the middle of the hallway, I collapse, my breathing now low, ragged, and shallow.

The girl lay fainted on the floor. No one paid her a sign of heed or even looked her way. She had lost all hope. Who would rescue her? Suddenly, steady footsteps made their way toward the collapsed girl. Someone gasped in horror. At first a steady shake, then a wild, worried one. Two voices called out in alarm the name. "Grace! GRACE!"

Sirens wailed through the night. Blue and red passed by in a blur. Cars diligently stopped at the sight of it. A crying ambulance that was dashing toward a certain hotel. It was in such a hurry, it took little to no time in passing by a forest.

In that same forest, a young girl with long straight silver hair wearing a battered and bruised black dress walked over toward the tree stump and sat down, clearly out of breath. "No... I have got to keep going." The girl said confidently, yet tiredly. "If I stop, they will soon find me." The girl brushed the dirt off her dress, and stood up, a brave look on her face. "I am not a fugitive. And, he NEEDS to know that!" The girl loudly declared aloud, right before running deep into the woods.

Soon later, a group of people wearing all black ran into the forest and stopped straight at the tree stump. No sign of her.

"She isn't here." One of them commented.

"Yeah..." The third of them said, sulking. "I guess we should go tell our Boss."

With that, they ran out of the forest and toward who-knows-where while that same young girl with mysterious long silver hair watched with those sharp glowing green eyes as they retreated.

Real

Chapter 2

Into The Woods

Hours had passed since then. Night came with the dawn. Days passed.

"And she hasn't yet woken up?" Questioned a young doctor.

"No, afraid not." The female nurse said in reply. Suddenly, the nurse groaned and slapped her forehead in irritation. "Ugh..." She grunted.

"Yeah, I know." The Doctor agreed. "Why won't she just wake up already?"

The nurse mused in thought, then finally came to a conclusion on how she could be woken up. "Hey, Doctor! Does the girl have any parents?"

"No, not that I know of. When I looked her info up on the hospital monitor, it didn't give any information about her parents."

"Hmm..." The nurse put a hand to her chin. "If she had any of 'em... Wonder what her parents would have to say about this.." The young nurse mused quietly in thought.

My legs race out toward the free open air, wildly chasing after the burning fire, and the terrible, rotten smell of soot and burning ash. "Hey! Wait! Don't go! Not yet!" I scream out, my shout seeming to echoing across the horizon as the darkness envelops me...

Now everything was all a blur. I couldn't see where I was going, or anything. But, suddenly, a ray of light shot out from my blurry, mixed up vision. I reached out to grab it, and then...

There was a long silence. "..She... ...Be alright?" A calm voice that seemed to be coming from faraway suddenly spoke up.

"...Think so..." Another voice said.

Then, I awoke, my eyes struggling to keep in focus.

I saw a young doctor and elderly nurse peering down at me. I turned my head to look around, but all I saw was white. "Where..?" I ask stupidly.

"At the hospital." The doctor answers, in the calm tone that usually all doctors use.

"But, why?" I ask, not yet remembering that incident from earlier.

The doctor shakes his head sadly. "You passed out at the hotel. You stayed passed out for five days."

"Passed out? Hotel?" I question dumbly, not remembering a thing.

The doctor kneels down and looks at me straight in the eye. "You don't remember a thing?" He questions me quietly.

I shake my head back and forth in answer. No, I really don't remember a thing. But, why is this?

Soon later, a young nurse barges into the room. And with her are my parents.

"How is she, Doctor?" The nurse asks in an almost inaudible sort of whisper.

"She doesn't remember a thing about her house, the hotel, or the incident." The doctor whispers back.

Are they assuming I can't hear them, either?

"Nothing at all?" The nurse asks, raising a brow.

"Nothing at all." The doctor confirms in a serious whisper voice.

They know I can still hear them, right?

"Wow..." For some reason, the nurse seems to be stunned at the thought of it all. "Maybe it really is the 'stigma!"

'Stigma.. I recognize the word. Yes, I've heard that word before. But, where from?

"Alright." The doctor rummages through the cabinet after his talk with the nurse. "Let's see what's happened to you." He sat down in order to face me and took out his stethoscope.

"You need to listen to my heart for this?" I question him, since I wanted to be ready for whatever things he threw at me. "Then, I'll let you-"

But he stops me mid-sentence by saying, "No, not right now."

"Huh?" I inquired. "Then, what..??"

Suddenly, the doctor reached out a hand and grabbed onto my arm.

He pinched it without warning, and I screamed in pain.

"OW!" I scream irritatedly. "You didn't tell me you had to do THAT!"

"Did it hurt?" He merely said.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, why wouldn't it?!"

"Well, if that hurt, tell me if it hurts more..." He reached out and painfully pinched my left hand. "Right here?"

I grabbed onto my arm and winced, somehow keeping myself together, despite the unrelenting pain I now felt on my left hand. When I could breathe again, I nod to the doctor, and breathlessly say, "Yeah, it did." But no response came from the doctor, which caused me to look up in curiosity... Only to see a wildly shaking, trembling doctor pointing at my hand, but apparently not able to speak any words to convey why he was so scared of a normal, regular hand. But then, that one word came out.

"'Stigma..." The doctor said, right before passing out.

Now curious, I looked at my arm, and could only gasp in fear. A huge red bruise was forming on my arm. Fearing for the worst, I looked down at my hand and saw a black sticky liquid oozing out of it.

I winced in pain. And that was when I heard the whispers and the screams.

The nurse pointed a finger toward my hand, screamed and passed out. Everyone else turned toward me and gasped with horror, right before running out of the room.

My mom, the only one in the room who was not traumatized like all the other people were, ran up to me while sobbing and hugged me, no longer looking sad about what I couldn't seem to remember. "Sweetie, are you alright? I'm so sorry you forgot everything!" Then, my mom grasped hold of my hand... And screamed. Teeth chattering with fear, she violently let go of my hand, moved away from me, and started crying.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, getting up from the hospital bed and getting closer to her.

"No!" She hollered shrilly in alarm, salty tears falling down her cheeks. "Stay away!"

"Why?" I ask loudly. "Why can't I get near you? Why can't I love you?!"

Trembling with sobs, she turned to me, her eyes blazing with anger, tears, and, at the same time, sadness. I'd never seen her eyes look like that before. "You're not the Grace I used to know." Mom says angrily, trying her hardest to suppress her sobs. "You're not."

"I'm not? Then, what am I, then?!" I shout angrily to my Mom.

"You... Are a monster." Mom says through her tears. "You can't love... You can only hate." Then, without warning, she turned on her heel and ran out of the room.

"Mom!" I cry out. But no one answers me. Everyone has left the room already.

All because of me. In the midst of my loneliness, I hold my hands that are stained black up to my face. Why... Why... "Why...!!" I shout out, now crying. Suddenly, I stop crying and realize something sad, but also very important. "If my parents aren't going to be with me, then why should I be with them?" I think to myself. I stop and shake my head, realizing the consequences of what I was doing. But it didn't matter now. My parents didn't need me anymore, so why would I need them? I nodded firmly and headed out toward the hospital door, making sure to hide any sign of my wounds before I did so, however.

I made my way to the hospital exit when a mans voice interrupted me. "Hey, kid. Do you know where you're goin'?"

I turned around and shook my head towards him, hoping he could perhaps tell me - a kid with a dreadful disease, that everyone avoids, that everyone calls a monster - where to go to even find a small grain of hope.

"Well... Most people near this location have come to this hospital guide -" He pointed to himself - "To ask where the Elgiem Forest is."

I nodded, and grinned. "Elgiem Forest? That's where I've always wanted to go! Where is it?"

The man shook his head slowly. "Kid... You sure you wanna go out there?"

I nodded eagerly, excitedly.

Yes, of course I did. I would go anywhere to get away from the haunting truth of that terrible disease.

The man did a facepalm, but still said, "Fine. I'll tell you where to go."

I smiled exuberantly with joy and happiness. I was finally leaving my sad life! Sure, this might not be your idea of what brings you happiness, but what other choices did I have?

"Go toward the other side of the building. The forest is just towards there." The guide directed.

I nodded, still smiling. "Thanks."

"Welcome." The guide nodded in return.

I couldn't wait! I ran out of the hospital exit, happy and jubilant.

"But, wait!" The guide called after me, but to no avail, as I had already left the hospital. "Please do be careful!!!!"

Walking out of the hospital doors, I breathed deep, amazing fresh air into my lungs. Since when did air feel so good? Since when did I feel my heart thumping in my chest excitedly? Since when, for the first time in my life... Did I feel freedom? These colorful, wonderful, amazing questions rang out in my mind, but I didn't answer any of them. I was far too happy to notice any of them swirling around in my brain. I was happy. I was joyful. Or was I jubilant? No, I was free.

After a moment, I looked up. I had already made my way into the forest. The deep, dark, dense forest. "No!" I told myself. "Don't get scared now! Remember, this is freedom!" But, even though that reminder kept popping up as I wandered through the forest alone, I felt more scared now than I ever had been before. "Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts..." I kept nervously telling myself. Suddenly, a new thought popped up in my head and kept me preoccupied the rest of the walk, or, rather, trek. Was I really a monster because I had the 'stigma? In my opinion, if I were a monster, I wouldn't be so scared of the deep, dense wood which I was currently walking in. But, if I were a monster, I would be happy to be at a wild place where wilderness flourishes everywhere you turn. But, in fact, that also means... I suddenly came upon a thick clearing with a river in the middle. I couldn't swim, so I couldn't go over to the other side of the forest by the river! So, what now?! Suddenly, I heard a song. It seemed to warm my heart and make me calmer... And it also seemed to be coming from the bush from the left. Pushing shrubs and fallen branches out of my way, I went into the bush on the left side of the river. Then, instantly, the singing stopped. I was shocked to see a young girl with long straight silver hair. She had green eyes that seemed to glow in the dusk of the night. And she was sitting on a rock. But, what surprised me the most was the quick way she unsheathed her sword and drew it an inch toward my neck. Startled, I jumped back in surprise.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, or, rather, demanded, in a low, cold tone.

There was a silence. I couldn't find the words to say.

"Tell me your name."

The girls low, cold voice became hard and slow, and, knowing I had to tell her, I looked up at her and said the name, "Grace. M-My name's Grace." I awkwardly blushed a bit, now embarrassed because I had heard her singing. "You know, you sing really well." I say without thinking, causing the girl to look up at me with wide eyes, and say the words,

"You heard me?"

I nod. "Yeah, I did. You sing really pretty. I couldn't sing like that even if someone paid me!" There was another silence. Then, I finally spoke up, and said, "Well, uh... I've already told you my name, so I'd really like it if you'd tell me yours."

"Mine?" The girl asked quietly.

I nod. "Yep."

The girl got up from the rock and said, "Sara. The name's Sara."

I smile. "That's a really pretty name-"

"What are you doing out here?" She asks me in a cold, hard tone.

I just stare. "Huh?"

Sighing with exasperation, she facepalms, then says, "Why are you out here in the forest?", speaking the words slowly as if she were addressing an idiot.

I think for a moment, then say, "I got this disease, so no one wants to be around me anymore."

The girl nods. "So... You are a fugitive?"

I laugh and shake my head. "No, of course not-"

"Well, if you're not a fugitive, I don't need to be here with you anymore." She says, already walking away.

"Wait!" I call out.

She stops, but doesn't turn toward me.

"Will we see each other again?" I scream out.

"Perhaps." She says, walking away into another clearing.

Now alone, I sigh and sit down on the rock, my hand on my chin. My mind directs itself back to my parents, probably because I am worried for them... And for myself too. "My mom knows, Bryan does too... What about my dad and Jodie? Do they know about the 'stigma?" I think to myself deeply. Afterward, I shrug. "Meh, probably not." Suddenly, the skies begin to turn dark and overcast. Oh man. They didn't call for rain today! I cover my head, just in case it starts raining, right when I hear a voice.

"Are you, perhaps, lost?" It asks me.

I look up. Standing in front of me is a young man wearing a black uniform with silver gauntlets on the front of it. He has deep glowing green eyes, and his mouth is curved into what looks like either a smirk or a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, sir, but if I might ask... Who are you?" I ask the question cautiously, trying to be careful because something inside me made me feel like I couldn't trust this person.

The man smirked wider. "My name is Kadaj. It's a pleasure."

Real

Chapter 3

Kadaj

7 Pages in print

"Who's this "'he'?" I soon question him not out of curiosity, but only because an uneasy feeling currently filled my gut. What the man said back was, "How dare you question our Master! For that, you're going to pay!" Suddenly, he unsheathed a sword out of his pocket, which caused me to back up with fright. And then the man looked straight at me and gasped in awe. "It couldn't be..." "What is it?" I question with wide eyes, now confused. "You're the one who our Master chose." The young man said, narrowing his eyes at me as if I weren't just a mere obstacle in his path. "And yet, you have the guts to question who he is..." Now the man is pacing back and forth around me whilst twirling his sword arrogantly. "So what? So what if I questioned him or whoever it is?! I was just asking!" I shout out without thinking. As I do, my eyes glow blue in a violent manner without me knowing. The young man suddenly turns around and looks at me... Then he gasps aloud. "Y-Your eyes... And that signature glow..." A subtle smirk formed on his face as he collects himself. "That's why he choose you." I roll my eyes. "What does that even mean? WHO EVEN CHOSE ME?!" I scream out, as my eyes brightly glow blue for a second time. The man narrows his eyes and crosses his arms, as if judging me. "You mean... you don't know of your powers?" The man says, both displeasure and sarcasm filling his voice tone. "How disappointing." "Powers?" I question. "What powers?!" The man merely smirks. "And yet, you are still needed by Master. So I shall bring you to him." "You better answer my question!" I scream. He doesn't. Without a warning, the man, instead, raises his hands in the air and soon afterward, a dark force flys out of the earth, out of the ground, straight through the trees... and it is all coming straight at me. "Run." A cold female voice from behind me tells me. I do as told. I scream and run away, covering my head with my hands to block out the icky goo. I yelp as the goo gets in my eyes and into my hair. I notice that, as it does, there is a burning, searing pain in my stomach, perhaps from my disease. But, although it hurts, I keep on running, and don't stop for anything. And then, someone grabs me. Slowly, I turn around to see who it is. It is a young man with short length silver hair and green eyes: that same one, perhaps? But, on second glance, there appears to be something different about this one... I try not to make eye contact, but I look up anyway. He looks too, and he smirks at me in a mocking way, almost as if he is taunting me. I gulp, "Hi." A minute of silence. "You fool." He says with a low, cold, dark voice that could make even the toughest of the darkest of clouds flee into the sun. "Don't you know you are the most powerful weapon I've ever had in my possession?" I try to smile, "What, no friendly greeting..??" The man narrows his eyes at me. He is unamused. I try to back up, but then, without warning, the man knocks me down on the ground with what feels like some crushing superhuman strength. I fall to the ground, my entire body covered in black ooze. The man disappears with a single, mere, snap of the finger, smirking with glee all the while. And then my world turns to black.

I wake up to dimly lit darkness. I look around and suddenly a pain radiates down my stomach, causing me to clench down onto my stomach in pain. I groan. "Hurts..." I manage to say, but no one answers me back. Curious now as to where I was, I dust myself off, get up off the ground, and start walking. But then, just as I do, a loud clatter sounds from beneath my feet as a huge cage traps me! I groan irritatedly. Really?! Soon, a mocking laugh comes from within the cave as a mysterious voice echoes off its walls. "Hmph. You foolish child. You tried to get out, but as you know, my servants won't let that happen." I feel my entire body tense up with anxiety. Just who was that speaking to me?! "You heard Master?" Another - more familiar - voice says. I gasp and whip around. Standing in front of me was the man who had done this to me: the man who had that short length silver hair... along with those annoying vivid cat-like green eyes. He smirks, seemingly pleased. "Good, good. That's your first step in becoming one of us, you know." My hands ball into fists, and, without even thinking, I holler, "You're so dumb! Can't you see that I don't even WANT to be one of you?! As a matter of fact, I don't even know what it means to become that, and I don't think that I would really like to know!" At this, the man narrows his eyes at me and makes a "tsk tsk" sound while waggling his finger. "Master would chide you for saying that, you know." I roll my eyes, and shout angrily, "Master this, Master that... It's all I ever hear you talk about! But who EVEN IS Master? WHO IS HE?!" The man stares at me in utter shock and his face seems as if it has been covered with a storm cloud of darkness. "Hmph. If I were Master, I would've already killed you for disobeying." I smirk and put my hands on my hips with confidence. "Well then, since you're not Master, why can't you just kill me now and let it be done with?" A slight hint of a evil smirk formed on his face. "That's a brilliant idea." He said with an evil smile. "As a matter of fact..." He slowly unsheathed his sword from his pocket. "I think I will." I gasp with fright. He jumped up and tried to hit me, but then a dark force hit him on the head and he got knocked back onto the ground. HARD. I gasp again, this time with suspense and worries. I look over at him laying there. He isn't moving at all. "You OK?" I say slowly. Suddenly, I see a sad frown forming on his face. "Master, is that you?" He asked to no one in particular. I wondered who he was talking to. I also wondered, now that he was dying, was he somehow able to see his Master? A moment of silence followed this pondering. Then, finally, the man spoke up and said, "Yes, I rebelled against you. I know what I did wrong. I'm sorry, please forgive me!" Suddenly, I noticed the man was beginning to dissipate into thin air, as if his body was made of water or a liquid of some sort. As he disappeared, I stared all the while. And then I felt a rough hand press down on my shoulder. I immediately gasped in alarm and turned around. Standing in front of me holding a black remote in her hand was Sara, staring at me with a cold, scornful expression on her face. Without a word, she pressed the red button on the remote and the cage opened up. I instantly ran outside the cave, with Sara following close behind me. "I'M FREE!" I can't help but shout, even as Sara glares at me. "Stop being such a kid. Do you even know why I rescused you?" She asks me coldly. I turn to look at her and merely shake my head in answer. "I rescued you because I thought that you were in danger. But it was also because I thought that you couldn't rescue yourself." Sara says back. I narrow my eyes at her, "Who says I can't?" Sara smirks. "I do." Something inside me snaps. I charge at her with all my fury and rage, but then that same sword from before is held out to mock me yet again. And, with that, I back away, raising my hands up in the air in defeat. Sara smirks, as I roll my eyes. Then, I stare at the sword for a minute or two for no reason, as a random realization seeps its way into my brain. "Hey Sara, why does your sword look a lot like that guys sword does?" The women scoffs. "Don't you dare compare me to them. Unlike them, I have a life outside of my mind. Those mindless craving idiots do not." Without meaning to, I smile. An idea is hatching! "Hey, Sara? Do you think I could travel with you for a while?" Another scoff. "Hmph. Did I say I was allowed to hang out with your type?" I smile again, this time bigger. "I know, but..." The women sighs in annoyance. I pout with pity. "Please! You and me, me and you, together! It'll be fun! Come on, please!" I edge her on with annoying pleads. She rolls her eyes, and I can tell she is already trying to tune me out. "PLEASE!" I shout. There is a silence. "Come on, how about this, OK? If you join me, I'll stop bugging you, and, once I resume bugging you, you can stop traveling with me if you want!" I bribe. After a moment, Sara finally looks at me. "That is fine. But only if I get to ask you some questions about what happened in that cave - and what happened outside of it." I nod with pleasure. "You can ask me anything!" Sara nods. "Alright, so, first thing's first: did you ever-" I smirk. It finally worked. The only question is, was this amazingly thought up plan for the best or worst?

Real

Chapter 4

Pondering

Soon, a few minutes of wandering in the forest, we had found an inn. I was so excited. After I had just walked so much, I really wanted to just get in that inn's bed and lay down. And so I did...

"Ah!" I sighed deeply, laying back on the bed. "Into bed I go!" I leaped back onto the bed enthusiastically, startling Sara. She scornfully looked at me. "Are you done yet?" I frowned. "No." Sara sighed deeply. "Remember, you took it upon yourself to tell me what happened in that cave. When exactly was this?" "Yesterday." I say. She frowns. "And have you told me as such?" I frown back at her. "No. I guess I'd better begin here, then..." Being defeated, I start to her, "Well, for starters, it was so weird. There was this man with short silver hair and he said that I had powers." "You said a silver haired man... And powers of what kind?" Sara suddenly questioned after musing for a while. "He never told me that much." I answered honestly. "What else happened?" Sara questioned. "Well, he told me that I was needed by some 'Master' and that he would bring me to him or something. To be honest, I wasn't really paying any attention." Sara finally turned to me and said, "I know all that. I was there. I was the one who told you to run. But what happened in the cave?" I sat there for a few minutes in shock, stunned by what Sara had said just now. "You just now told me this and you expect me to tell you about what happened in the cave?!" Sara frowns. "Remember you said that if you didn't want to oblige to me, then you and I would travel no longer? Your choice." I frown. "Why are you so hooked on this cave, and what happened in it? What's wrong with you?!" I scream to the universe. Sara looks me over scornfully for a few minutes. "I'll have you know that nothing is wrong with me. I wasn't obliged to tell you, but now I have no choice. I'm seeking out the silver-haired man who made me powerless. I need to take my revenge on him." I frown, now taking her seriously. "Wow, interesting. And who is this silver-haired man?" Sara frowns intently. "Sephidaj. He used to be Sephiroth, but he uses the body of one of his Remnants, called Kadaj, in order to revive himself again and become his true self. All the while Kadaj suffers... I take pity on him." I am stunned. "So, Sephiroth is here as Sephidaj because he wants to come back to his original form and take over this Planet?" Sara nods. "Yes, exactly. And he needs you to do it." I frown. "Me? How?" "Remember those foresaid 'powers' that the Follower mentioned? Those are your ability to get angry. When you do, your eyes will glow, and sometimes you will unleash tremendous power in large amounts. That is why Sephidaj needs you in his plan to take over the Planet. By the way, how I know this... I was actually there in the cave for some of it. So now that we are fallen on common ground, there's no need to tell me anything more." "That's great." After a moment, I smile. "So, what are we gonna do tomorrow?" Sara frowns seriously. "Find Sephidaj." "Wait-What-" I start to say. "It will not be as hard as you think. I can sense that he's nearby, in the woods." Sara interrupts me. I frown. I had no choice. "Alright." I say, and I look at the clock. The time was 8:45. I guess I'd better get to sleep, I think to myself tiredly. With that being said, I close my eyes and fall into a deep slumber, and to whatever surprises awaited me tomorrow...

I awaken to a loud whistle. I toss and turn in bed. Suddenly, a bucket of cold water poured over my head. I instantly get up, quickly rubbing the water out of my sleepy eyes. I look at the clock: 2:00:AM, it reads. "What? What? What is it?" I ask Sara (the one who had *woke me up*) annoyedly. "We have to find Sephidaj, remember?" She reminds me. I frown tiredly. "At this hour?" Sara nods seriously. "Yes. Now let's go." Without anymore words, she walks out the doorway, and I run outside to catch up with her. And, while we made our way into the forest, I thought silently to myself, 'just what kind of crazy situation did I get myself into?!'

Real

Chapter 5

Sephidaj

We have made it to the forest. I look around. "So, uh, where are we supposed to go now?" I laugh nervously. Sara scans the area, and starts walking toward a grotto on the right. "Come on. This way." Sara says curtly, still walking. I have no other choice but to run after her. I run to her side and we keep walking. Then, suddenly, Sara stops walking mid-step. "Finally, we're done..." I pant, collapsing to the ground. Sara frowns seriously. "We're not done yet." She says almost to herself. She sternly turns to me. "Get up." She almost commands. I do so, still heaving loudly. Sara harshly shushes me. "What?" I shout annoyedly. "I'm tired!" "That's not it." Sara whispers lowly. "I hear something..." I frown. Actually I do, too. Someone is *definitely* nearby... Suddenly, while both of us are staring out at the grotto, I feel a sharp pain in my leg. I gasp out in pain, and I fall to the ground, not noticing that Sara is angrily looking at someone standing beside me. I don't notice anything anymore... I am losing myself. I slowly feel myself falling into darkness. Falling, fading, falling fast...

I awaken slowly, opening my eyes groggily. "Well hello there, Puppet." A unfamiliar voice says almost automatically. I turn my head toward the direction of the voice. A young man with short silver hair and green cat-like eyes leers down at me. I frown angrily. This must be Sephidaj... I try to get up to face him, but the intense pain (from the stab wound he had given me) overwhelms me and I fall to the ground again, gritting my teeth in pain. He smirks evilly at me. In a way almost as if he is enjoying my pain, I think to myself in immense disgust. Sara was right. He *was* really evil. I frown. "Why do you want me so much?!" I scream out without thinking. He smiles. "Excellent question, Puppet." I growl, baring my teeth like a wild animal. "Stop calling me your Puppet! I was *never* your Puppet!" He frowns. "Ah, but you were. Could it be that you've forgotten?" I frown. Forgotten? Forgotten what? About me being his puppet? Was I his puppet at one point? I hold onto my head in pain, moaning wildly. Suddenly, a more familiar, stern, and cold voice reaches my ears: "Let her go." I force my brain to stop thinking these bizarre thoughts, and I lift my head weakly in order to look up. Sure enough, Sara was boldly standing in front of Sephidaj. Sephidaj just smirks darkly. "Hello, Puppet..." "I am *not* a puppet." Sara says somehow composedly. "You may have used me in the past, but I am no longer your puppet. I never was." Sephidaj just stares. "Hmph. Your words mean nothing. Soon you will come back to me, just as Grace will, too..." I frown. Such a mean guy. Sara grits her teeth annoyedly at his mere mention of me. "Let her go." Sephidaj smirks. "Why would I do that, when she has what I need?" Sara frowns. "Well, then..." She calmly removes her sword from her sheath and charges at Sephidaj. Sephidaj smirks. "You're sure to want to fight me? Even after I've taken all your powers?" Sara stops still and doesn't answer. Sephidaj strides up to Sara. "Now that I have taken your powers, you are nothing but a replica of my own strength. You are me, and I am you." Sara frowns seriously. "Are you certain? I thought I'd let you know years ago that I wasn't a part of you." Sara scoffs. "Apparently you've learned nothing." Sephidaj gets his sword out of its sheath, and smirks. "I have learned. I have learned that you are my Puppet and amount to nothing in the eyes of the people." Sara growls angrily, and charges at Sephidaj. The battle starts. Their swords clash continually at a rapid rate, the sound echoing loudly throughout the grotto. Soon, they were both tired, but they kept on going. It was really strange, though.. Just then, I remembered what Sephidaj had said... If it was true, then... that was it. This was a pure battle of wills: they each had the same exact strength. Whoever would fall first would be the winner. That must've been what Sephidaj was planning, I think to myself in alarm. So that way Sara might could fall first...!!! No, no, I said silently to myself. That could never happen. After all, his words amount to nothing... Sara *will* save me. I just know it.

Hours passed, and still the battle of wills continued. I felt like I had been sitting in the same position for an hour, just watching their swords clash together. I was getting tired just watching them. I just hoped Sara didn't feel the same way as I did right now... My thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream. I looked up, and gasped at what I saw: Sara had finally fell. I frowned. No, please no. I thought to myself. Please don't let this happen...

In the Lifestream, a beautiful young women was watching on this event from above. On her face was a look of extreme pity. Sephidaj needed to learn his lesson, for now, at least... Her hands clasped together, and, with that, she prayed a silent prayer to the Goddess.

Sephidaj stalked over to Sara. He was about to end it with a finishing blow, but I kept praying hopelessly to myself. I kept praying that something would happen to prevent his progress. Suddenly, rain started falling fast out of the clouds in the sky, and Sephidaj fell instantly, seemingly also in extreme pain. He panted tiredly, and grunted as he stood back up. He glared at Sara almost *extremely* annoyedly, then, without a word, he snapped his fingers and vanished into thin air.i smiled. It was over. For now, there was nothing else to worry about. ...Or was it? Suddenly, a sharp pain enveloped my stomach. The same pain I felt back at the cave, I thought to myself worriedly. I wanted to call out Sara's name to let her know I was hurting, but she was still down. I bit back the tears and also the shrill scream of pain coming up my throat as I shivered with intense pain. Then, suddenly, almost in an instant, all turned dark...

Real

Chapter 6

I Remember Now

I find myself in a white void. Deep down, I am honestly very confused as to where I am, but I ignore it as the place seems very peaceful. I walk around and suddenly come face to face with a pretty young women. She is wearing a pink bolero jacket that buttons up in the front. She pulls back her long brown strands of hair away from her face. Her eyes meet mine and she smiles sweetly. "Hello." I smile back, wondering who she was. "Hi. I'm Grace." I greet. "My name is Aerith." The women says. "I'm here to help you with something." I frown. "Like what?" Aerith giggles. "Silly. You really have forgotten." She takes my hand. "Close your eyes." She tells me. I frown. "What-" "Just close your eyes." She repeats again. I frown, and close my eyes. Suddenly, I see it: memories of all kinds... the house fire. The hotel. The dripping black ooze. And the 'stigma... And then I see Sara. Kadaj. Sephidaj. The battle between them. Sara passing out, and then me passing out. Everything is there for me to see... My head pounds in confusion. It hurts so much... I scream out for help...

And then my eyes shoot open. I quickly notice that I am in a unfamiliar bed I have never seen before. I groan in pain and roll over on my side. There was a second bed, too. I look at it. Sara wasn't laying there... Instead, a beautiful girl with glowing blonde hair was laying there. Her eyes were closed. She was obviously asleep. She reminded me of someone I knew for some reason. I frown. Well, anyway, where exactly was this? I want to wake the girl and ask her about it, but I knew that would probably be rude of me to do so instead I just got up out of the bed and walked away downstairs.

I walk downstairs. Sara and someone else I don't recognize are sitting at the table. The person I don't know gets up to face me. "You're awake." I stay standing. "Yeah." I say awkwardly. "My name's Misuzu." The person introduces. "What's your name?" I frown. "Grace. My names Grace." The girl, Misuzu, fidgets with her fingers uncomfortably. "G-Gao... well... I helped you out, you know? I found you and your friend passed out. I was really worried, so I brought you here." Misuzu smiles, now feeling more comfortable. "I'm glad I could help you out." I beam back. "I'm equally glad you did. Thanks, so much." Misuzu smiles. "No problem." "Well, why don't you sit down?" Misuzu asks. I do as told, and soon we start talking about my weird dream I just had. "I had this really weird dream. There was this strange women, and she helped me remember what I had forgotten. I think she said her name was Aeries, or something." Just then, Sara gets up to face me, a look of worry on her face. "Misuzu, may I take Grace to her room so we could be alone for a few minutes?" She questions her. Misuzu smiles. "Yeah, that would be fine."

Soon we are in my room. "What was that about?" I ask Sara annoyedly. "Didn't you say the person you dreamed about went by the name Aerith?" Sara speaks up, ignoring my furious question. After a moment, I nod, now calm. "Yeah... why?" Sara frowned seriously. "Aerith is real." "What?" I ask. "But, how-" "Aerith was one of my companions on a journey, along with Cloud, and some others. I had to tell her goodbye at the end of the journey because..." "Because? Because what?" I ask. No longer speaking, Sara pulls a pink ribbon out of the pocket in her battered, black dress and shows it to me. At my confused expression on seeing the ribbon, Sara frowns. "She died, Grace." I frown. "What? How did she die?" Just for a minute, a look of sadness flickers across Sara's features. "She was killed." I gasp lowly in shock. "Killed?! By who?" "By Sephiroth." Sara curls her fist around the ribbon angrily, and a mask of anger comes across her face. "...Aerith had gone on a journey to stop Sephiroth by casting Holy, a powerful white magic that could combat Meteor. Cloud and the others found her trying to cast the spell. Sephiroth levitated down from the ceiling and tried to impale Aerith." Sara grits her teeth angrily, "...It was good timing... trying to strike her while she was summoning this powerful a spell. It had made Aerith unable to move to defend herself. Cloud tried to stop Sephiroth from killing her, but he was too late. Aerith had died. Cloud buried her in the Forgotten City. And all the while I watched in secret..." She tightens her grip on the pink ribbon, and then she shows it to me again. "This was her ribbon, Grace. This is the only thing I have left to remember her by." I frown. "Well," I try to change the topic uncomfortably, seeing that Sara is angry, "speaking of Sephiroth..." Sara looks up, immediately on alert. "What about Sephiroth?" She inquires to me. "Well..." I laugh nervously. "Some stuff happened a few days ago that I forgot about, and now I remember all of it. And I remember that some of it had to do with Sephidaj." Sara frown sternly. "Tell me what he did." Her voice is hard and cold. Well, I'm already gotten this far in the conversation. Sure she's no friend of mine, but... Why not just go ahead and tell her? She hates Sephiroth just as much I do-actually, probably *even more* than I do. I frown, looking back up at Sara's stern expression. She raises a brow in expectation, waiting for me to speak up. Finally, after a while of thinking, I shrug causally. "Ok, I'll tell you..."

I tell her everything. I tell her about Sephiroth, the 'stigma, my parents reaction to my 'stigma, the house fire, the hotel, and the forest. After I am done, Sara is staring at me with a rather surprising look of awe that I've never seen on her face before. She takes a moment to collects herself, then says, "Sephidaj controlled your mind during the house fire, didn't he?" I nod my head yes in reply, and Sara grits her teeth angrily. "That must mean he really needs you for the Reunion..." After a moment, Sara roughly puts a hand on my shoulder (what strength!). "Listen." She almost commands sternly, but not coldly. "You need to promise me, that you will *never* try to face Sephidaj on your own. If you don't listen, you never know what might happen, especially when he wants to use you for his plan so much. Understood?" I nod, a bit confused, but trying not to show it. "Yeah, I think." Sara frowns seriously. "Good." She takes her hand off my shoulder and stands up. I stand up, too, and after a few minutes, I walk down the stairs with her. Sara suddenly looks toward me as we walk down. "I'm glad you're better." I tell her, and smile really big. Sara merely scoffs, turning her gaze away from me and back down to the stairs again, "It's not me you need to worry about, what with the way Sephiroth is looking everywhere for you." I nod. True. We keep walking down the stairs, and soon we sit down at the table. But Misuzu isn't here. We wait a few minutes, expecting Misuzu to come in through the door. But she doesn't. After a few more minutes of waiting, Sara suddenly stands up. "Let's go." She says curtly. "What?" I ask awkwardly. "Let's go. We need to find Misuzu." With that being said, she curtly walks out of the house, and I have no choice but to race after her.

Real

Chapter 7

Reason

I walk out towards the garden gate outside Misuzu's house. "Find her yet?!" I shout over to Sara. "Not a sign." Sara replies back to me. I grit my teeth in an intense sort of desperation. Misuzu, where are you? Suddenly, I hear what sounds like a faint wild and tearful sobbing. I quickly look towards the source: the gardening shed. I run over to Sara as fast as possible. "Sara, I think... I think we found Misuzu."

The rusty door to the gardening shed slowly creaks open as we peer inside. And yet, inside, all is dark. I frown. But I could've sworn I heard someone crying inside here just now... My happy smile twists into a rather concerned frown. "Misuzu, are you in here?" I say, trying to be cautious. Just then, we hear a a faint sound of someone crying, someone who is trying to find a way to properly breathe. "Misuzu!" Alarmed by this, I dash in the shed, Sara running after me.

We find Misuzu passed out on the ground, fainted and out cold. Sara examines her and looks her over carefully. "She looks to have been pained, and yet... No wounds..." She says, puzzled. I run my fingers over her hair. "Misuzu, what happened?" I ask her softly, almost as if she will answer me. Just then, Misuzu's eyes shoot open. "No! It hurts!" She slurs out incoherently. She sits up suddenly, clutching at her chest in pain while sobbing wildly, which startles me greatly. I gasp. "M-Misuzu, are you alright?" Misuzu stands up and looks around. "W-Where am I?" I frown seriously. "You're in the gardening shed. Why don't you know where you are? You came in here only a mere few minutes ago." Misuzu frowns childishly. "I'm not sure." Suddenly, Misuzu smiles laughingly. "Nihaha... Actually, I think I may have sleepwalked here." "You sleepwalk?" I ask Misuzu incredulously. She smiles in an embarrassed sort of way while rubbing her head nervously. "G-Gao... Yes... I do. I'm sorry for worrying you. You can come back to your rooms, if you want. I'll be fine here." I smile. "Alright." I walk away to my room with Sara and I realize my face is sweating and practically on fire with worry. I was worried for Misuzu, I realize. I was worried that she was hurt... But thankfully nothing happened to her... But, this is Misuzu, a person I barely know. If it was someone I had a friendship with, I would probably feel more pain for them. Even if it was Sara... "Grace." Sara calls my name seriously. I look up to face her, a bit dazed and 'out of it'. "Are you alright?" She asks me, frowning. I just nod, speechless. Then, finally, I speak up: "Yeah... I'm fine." I have just made a startling revelation out of nowhere. I have realized now that I need more power to defend and help to protect the ones I truly love and bear strong friendships with. But, just how should I get it, I wonder?

Meanwhile, over at a very familiar place...

In the pitch-black night, Sephidaj holds up his Black Materia up to the moon. A grainy sort of future scenery magically appears on it, and he watches. In it, a somehow different spiky-blonde-haired man fights a (also somehow different) man with long, flowing silver hair. Then, the footage finally ends and Sephidaj smirks darkly. "Perfect. This is all the footage I need..." Suddenly, he scoffs, smirking mockingly. "Hmph... Lookalike or not... his power will soon become my own."

Chapter 8

Signs Of What Is To Come

I awoke just as dawn broke. The sun reflected through the white blinds in the dimly-lit room. I groaned a little and turned over on my side. Just then, I saw the girl from before sitting up in the bed. She was awake now, and was staring at me rather calmly. "I don't think we've quite met yet." I introduce somewhat awkwardly. "My name is Grace. And, you are?" "Alice." The girl says quietly, almost in a whisper. "My name is Alice." "That's such a beautiful name." I tell the girl. A silence fills the room, and I try to think of what to say next. "So, Alice... where did you come from?" I inquire of her. "I don't know." Alice whispers. "You don't know?" I question her incredulously, barely believing her words to be true. "Yes. I don't." The girl replies in confirmation. "All I can remember is that I have light-powers... It's very odd." I frown. Interesting. "That *is* really odd." I agree. "But, well... my story might be even crazier." At this statement, the girl tilts her head. "How curious. Can you tell me more?"

So I told her everything: everything that had happened, *everything*. After I was all done talking, I looked up to see Alice staring at me with a look of utter surprise on her face. "That's really odd." She says after a while. "And curious." I nod my head. "I know... I only wish my parents could come and get me. All I want is to see them again... for them to accept me again." I bite my lip to keep myself from crying. Alice took notice of my emotional state. "Are you alright?" I sniff. "Yeah. I'm fine." "I could teleport you home, if you'd like." Alice states. "Really?" I say happily. "Could I bring Sara along, too?!" Alice smiles calmly. "Bring whoever you like." I grin. "Yay! Wait, I'll go get Sara." With that being said, I dash down the stairs to go get Sara.

Meanwhile, at Shinra...

Reno and Rude were rather bored. Rufus was working in his office, and he had said that they were not allowed to help quite yet. He had told them to wait outside for a chance to help. They had obeyed and politely done so, but now they were bored out of their minds and had absolutely nothing to do. And so Reno sighed annoyedly. "I'm so bored." He complained. Rude nodded his silent agreement, seemingly just as annoyed as Reno was at the moment. "...Well, anyway. Wonder when Rufus will call for us?" Reno said. "There's no telling." Rude said quietly. Just then, a faint sound was heard of Rufus calling Rude's name from the other room. "Oh, I gotta go." Rude got up from the couch and walked away. At this, Reno sighed, burying himself in the greenish-brown couch cushions. "Ugh... When will Rufus ever trust me?" Reno murmured as he buried himself deeper and deeper in. After a while, he found that he was getting rather sleepy. Eventually, he got himself out from the burial site he had made with the couch cushions and he picked himself up in order to lay down. But then, before he could fully go to sleep, a loud sound rang out. Ding-dong. With that, Reno rubbed his tired, sleepy eyes and headed to the door, wondering, out of absolute boredom, who it could possibly be. So he opened the door... and came face-to-face with a male brown-haired Follower. The brown-haired male almost instantly tried to slash at Reno with his sword, and Reno rapidly blocked it with his steel weapon. The Follower was out of breath already, having gotten into lots of trouble on his way to the hidden Corporation. He was so out of energy, that his grip slipped on his sword and it accidentally dropped from his hand and onto the hard ground below. Reno smirked. Maybe it wouldn't be such a boring day in the Company all in all. After all, he *was* always eager to tease one of these mindless idiots. "Giving up already?" He jeered. The Follower growled angrily and gritted his teeth annoyedly. "Oh, you're mad now, aren't you?" Reno states mockingly. The Follower panted annoyedly, his breath coming out in heavy heaves. "Well, why did you come here?" Reno asked teasingly, "The same exact reason as last time?" "Master..." The Follower heaved. "W-Where's Master..??" "Ah... he's not here." Reno said, faking disappointment. "But we *do* have people here to stop you. They're littered all around the Company. So, if you *do* break in..." Reno shot him a warning look. "I think you know what will happen." The Follower gritted his teeth. "All we need is Master. We need him to become one again." He complained quietly. Reno frowned a bit, now annoyed that the Follower wasn't backing down. "You know what I think? This has gone on for *far* too long." He emphasized. "And it needs to stop. In fact, I honestly think you just need to get a Life Reset Botton and move on." The Follower frowned annoyedly and turned away at this mocking torment. At this, Reno laughed. The Follower was walking away now. "Haha! That's it! Go away!" Reno screamed out joyfully, enjoying every second of it. Score 1: Reno... Score 0: Follower! Maybe today *would* be a great day after all! Just then, the sound of Rufus's voice calling him grabbed him from his happy thoughts. "Reno! Come on and get in here so you can help!" Rude called for him. At this, Reno nearly groaned in annoyance again as he closed the outside door and slowly trudged away toward Rufus's office room. Or maybe not...


	22. Thing

I laid down on the beach blanket and relaxed. I was completely lost in my own thoughts, that is, until, I heard footsteps crunching on the sand, towards me. I looked up. A young man having blue-green eyes that shone with an outstanding glow who was wearing a black leather jacket was standing near me. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn't quite understand what it was. He just stood there. His eyes were mesmerizing. He had on a leather jacket .. On the beach... Even though it was 98 degrees outside. "Uh, excuse me?" I finally asked him. "I'm sorry, but I'm trying to enjoy this beach time with me and my mom and-" "Oh, I get it. Quality family time, yes." The man Interrupted me. "I guess, since you're so busy with that, you can even do a simple tiny thing to help a person in need." I shook my head wildly. "No, no, it's not like that-" "Good." The man interrupted again. "Because I need your help." He looked at us and a slight smirk enveloped his lips. "I am from another world. I need your help to get me back to it, and with that being done, back to the way I once was." I just stared at him intently. "Back to the way I once was.." I repeated over and over in my mind. There was something familiar about that sentence, but what? He interrupted my thoughts yet again. "Oh, and by the way, my name's Kadaj. It's a pleasure." Kadaj... Where have I heard that name before? "I am from another realm. The world of Final Fantasy. I must get back there and I need your help to do so." His eyes were engaging and seemed to place me in a trance. I nodded slightly, as if accepting his offer, but then shook my head in protest. I laid my hand on my chin and thought a minute. "Will you give me anything for helping you?" I asked him. He had no expression on his face that would elude to his response. He looked down at me and replied "Of course - what do you desire?" "An ITunes card!" I said. "Or maybe a little chocolate basket! Ooh, or maybe a new candy bag!" He simply smirked and nodded and asked me to come with him. Mom had fallen asleep on the beach with the sound of the ocean in the background. I knew this was probably not the best idea but I was drawn to want to help him. And so I went along with him, starting to walk. "Where are we going?" I asked him, as we walked closer and closer to the oceans waves. He said "you have to trust me". He continued to walk towards the ocean. Then he kept walking and as his feet hit the water he vanished. I gasped aloud. What had just happened? "I can trust him..." I repeated over and over to myself. "I can." And, with that, I took one step into the ocean and... Entered into a new world? It was dark and dusty. I looked around and saw Kadaj up ahead of me. "Hey, wait!" I raced over to him, but I didn't look at him. My head stayed down. Then, I finally looked up at him after a minute, my lips forming a pout. "Why'd you leave me behind?" He never even looked my way. He simply kept walking and said "I have to get to Albrook before the sun goes down." "Why?" I asked him curiously. "What'll happen to you if the sun goes down?" He kept walking and replied "I need to get to the Lifestream before sundown. I can get us drinking water, food and supplies there as we journey from there to find Jenova." "Where's the Lifestream?" I asked him yet again. "It's not far... Keep up." Kadaj replied. They kept walking and the sun was quickly setting. I could hear running water like a stream nearby. "Oh! Is that it?" I pointed to a rushing stream that had what looked like a strange-looking portal entrance at the bottom of the water. "Yes" he said and never stopped walking until he got to the portal. It had a fluorescent glow and almost seemed to call to me. I stared at Kadaj, then at the glowing portal in front of me. "The Lifestream, huh?" I said to myself after a silence. Then, I walked in without hesitation along with Kadaj. We immediately enter Albrook, the city he was trying to reach. It was dark and damp. Almost musty smelling. There were not any people around. "What do we need to do from here?" I asked curiously, with wide eyes. "We look for Mother." Was the simple and blunt answer that came afterward. "Well, where is she?" I asked again. "She is thought to be in Cornelia. It is the next town over." Was the answer that followed. As we resumed walking, I asked Kadaj the most deep and important question I had ever asked anyone in my life. "Kadaj... Who are you really?" "I am an alter ego of Sephiroth. I was sent to find Mother and commence the Jenova Reunion." He replied. "Oh." I whispered quietly. There was a silence. "Let's go." I started. "Let's go to Cornelia, then." We got some supplies at a local village. Food, water and he got his Souba- his weapon. Grace watched his every move with anticipation of what he will do next. But then I laughed nervously as I saw his Souba. "Can you put that down, please?" I asked him nervously. "For some reason, it makes me nervous." "Sure." Kadaj said as he slowly placed the Souba back in its holster. He had a small smirk on his face as he did it. I watched the sword slowly go back in the holster, feeling a queasy feeling in the front of my stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick." I said irritatedly. He sat me down and gave me some water. Then he quickly said "come on" and headed toward Cornelia. With no choice but to follow him, I did so. But I, of course, already had more questions to ask. "So..." I started. "Do you know where Jenova is in Cornelia?" "I am told she is near a brook that runs through Cornelia. We will head that way." I nodded and started to walk alongside him, but then I suddenly gently pushed him into the water. "That's revenge for your Souba making me sick and scared!" I claimed. He glared at me with his searing green eyes. He was not happy about what I had just done. He collected himself and continued walking... At a much faster pace now. I walked faster to try to keep up with him. I could just see how mad he was. And so, when I reached him, I quietly said the words, "I'm sorry." He glanced at me... Never missing a step... And then said "we have reached the brook." As soon as I looked at it, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was beautiful. The blue water was grand and clean. I just stared at the clean blue water with awe. Kadaj walked over to it and washed his hands and took a drink. He watched to see which way the water was flowing. I watched, too. Then, after a few minutes, it started to flow to the right. We followed the brook. We walked what seemed like an eternity. We finally came across a camp with a few people. "Why are there not much people here?" I asked Kadaj. "There is not much food around here. The land is more desolate and unable to grow things." was his reply. I paused. "Oh." There was a silence. "What is this camp called?" "Camp Jenova" was his reply. "Oh." I nodded. "Makes sense." We resumed walking. We reached the end of the brook where it ran into an ocean. I stared at the ocean again. Why is it that all the water in the world is so sparkling clean? The ocean here was different, though. It was crystal clear. You could see through it. It was beautiful. And so I stared at my crystal clear reflection in the water. Those blue eyes, and that utterly long brown hair... "Yep, it's definitely me!" I thought to myself. Kadaj started to set up camp there. He laid the supplies down on the ground. He looked at me and said "this is where we wait ... Wait for Jenova." "When will she come?" I ask him. "I don't know... That is the part where you come in." I tilted my head in confusion. "What?" "You are what will bring Jenova to me." "But... How?" I ask quietly. "You are the alleged long lost key to the throne for Sephiroth." "I am? Me?" I pointed to myself, eyes wide. "Are you sure?" "Yes." he replied. "A girl with long brown hair, blue eyes and the known master of final fantasy knowledge can help us find Jenova." "What do I have to do in order to find Jenova?" I asked him. "You have to walk out into the brook and stick my Souba down into the water." I nodded, trembling. I somehow managed to grasp his Souba with my shaking hands when he gave it to me. And, as I walked over to the brook and put it into the water... The water turned black. There was a fog that arose from the water. The Souba began to glow. It stood in the water and a voice said "Stand for the Queen Jenova." I took a step back, afraid and scared. I was also very worried. What would happen now?! Up through the water arose a lady dressed in a black robe. She had a hood over her head. You could barely see her face. I backed up another step. I was so worried, I could barely think. What was going on?! She lifted her head like she was going to speak. Kadaj quickly came to her side and helped her onto a platform that was at the shoreline. I watched. It was all I could do. Just watch. Besides, my body wouldn't let me properly move, so I was just fine with watching, anyway. She removed her hood. She was actually a beautiful woman. She had long blonde hair and was tall. She had hazel eyes and reminded me of my mother. I gaped open mouthed at the beautiful women which stood only a few steps away from me. "She's... Jenova?" I asked myself quietly, with awe. Kadaj spoke up and said "this is your Princess Jenova - stand and bow to her." I nodded, and, without hesitation, stood and bowed to the pretty women in front of me. She looked at me with those intense hazel eyes. She walked towards me and gently touched my shoulder with her hand. I winced at first, because I was afraid she might hurt me, but then I felt the soft touch on my shoulder. Now knowing she wasn't going to hurt me, I couldn't help beaming. She gazed into my eyes and said "I have finally found you" in the softest most kind voice. Huh? 'I have finally found you?' What does that mean? "What do you mean?" I asked the women. "You are the missing family member for our reunion. You are a descendant of Jenova." "But... How? How is that even possible?" I ask, trembling wildly. "Your mother is a distant relative of mine. Therefore you are a blood relative of mine. You are the youngest blood member." she said. I backed up a bit. I took a few deep breaths, and forced my brain to take it all in. There was a silence. "So what's going to happen now?" I ask in a awkward and nervous tone. "I simply need you present at the reunion" was her response. My hands were still shaking as I nodded subtly. "A-alright..." We walked to the bank of the water. We walked onto land and Kadaj told us to follow him. We did so, and soon arrived at... A camp called Lufenia. "Wow, there's so many people here!" I gasped. Then, I took a closer look at them. Now that I saw them clearly, they were wearing white bandages on their skin, as if they had been injured. Why was this? "Why do all the people look like that..?? With all the white bandages on their skin?" I suddenly gasped as a realization filled my mind. "Could it be... Are the people here... Sick?" I asked Kadaj. Kadaj turned quickly to me and scowled. He said "you should not speak of such things in front of them." "Why?" I asked with wide eyes. He turned to me and grabbed my arm. "The geostigma can be contagious. Only blood relatives of Jenova are immune." "What's... Geostigma?" I asked, my voice low in a whisper. "It is a disease of Jenovas cells in your body."... "Your immune system tries to attack them making your body weak and debilitated." "Oh." I paused. "It actually makes more sense than I thought it would... In a way." There was a long pause. "Anyway... Where do we go from here?"


End file.
